A King and his Crew
by Boby335
Summary: Monkey D. Luffy is set on becoming the King of the Pirates, but he needs a powerful crew to help him achieve his dream. This is the story of Luffy and his crew and the path they took to reach the top!
1. Chapter I: Monkey D Luffy!

**I'm rebooting A Journey of Dream's. I felt that I didn't do a great job with that story, especially when I began to add a lot characters all at once, so here we are. I already have a full list of who's joining the crew besides the main One Piece cast… if you must know its above ten more people. I will diverge from canon almost immediately because in this story I'm powering up a certain character by just a little well maybe more than just a little, but read and I hope you enjoy what I've changed about the story and about One Piece in general. I also should warn you guys as this is an introductory chapter there won't be much action in it. I'm sorry I promise I'll get better at that!**

 **I'm also going to be starting a quick question of the week just for fun mind you. This time around I'm going ask you guys what's the best crossover fanfic you guys have read. I'm tied for a favorite with The Adventure of the Man of D by lalunaticscribe; it's a crossover between One Piece and the classical Sherlock Holmes. The other one is a crossover between Harry Potter and Fairy Tail called The Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix. Give them a read because they are top quality and I suggest you give them a read.**

 **I would like to thank my beta-reader, autumnxwinds for the help on fixing this chapter.**

 **Chapter I: Monkey D. Luffy!**

The definition of hunger is a feeling of discomfort or weakness caused by lack of food, coupled with the desire to eat. This described two men perfectly. One was a man with green hair and three swords at his waist. The man's gaunt body had a white cloth shirt and black trousers clinging to it and soaked with sweat. An even bigger distinction from all others was the green haramaki on his waste and tied around his left arm was a black bandana. In his left earlobe were three ear rings and on his face was the desperation of wanting food. This man was known as Roronoa Zoro, or as folks in the East Blue called him, The Pirate Hunter.

On the other hand the man opposite him wasn't well known at all, save for a few people here and there. His name was Monkey D. Luffy and he had a dream, an ambition, an indomitable will to become the second King of the Pirates. On his feet were a plain pair of worn, dirty sandals and a patched up pair of old denim shorts. Covering up his thin body was a red sleeveless vest that buttoned up. On top his messy mop of hair was plain straw hat whose story was as long and vast as the ocean was deep. Under his left eye was a scar from when he cut himself with a knife to prove he was as tough as the pirates he emulated.

Currently the young pirate captain and swordsman were sailing in no particular direction with their hunger slowly taking over the two, "You know when I decided to join you, Luffy, I thought that you had a plan," Zoro's stomach let out a low grumble, "I can now see that I was wrong." He sighed with discontent, and mild exhaustion.

Luffy looked up at the sky, "They didn't give us enough food…"

"You ate half of it in a day." Zoro glared at his captain.

Luffy looked back at his crewmate, "I was hungry!" he whined before looking back into the air.

"Captain, I think we should go and recruit a cook, at the very least." Luffy began to smile, but not at the idea of recruiting a chef. No, it was because of a bird flying overhead.

"I'll be back!" Holding onto the mast Luffy began stretching his arms back, ready to launch himself off at that bird. If you are shocked to hear about a man being able to stretch let me give you a quick explanation. You see when Luffy was, but a child he ate a very rare fruit known as a Devil Fruit, the Gum-Gum Fruit to be exact, which turned Luffy into a rubber man. Unfortunately because of the curse that came with gaining this extraordinary power if he ever was thrown into the sea he would sink like an anchor.

Looking back on this moment Zoro would later realize that this was just the beginning of his captain leading him into fights. Zoro watched as Luffy neared the bird and slowly began to see that the bird was bigger than his captain was. The bird chomped down on Luffy's head and flew off into the vast sky leaving Zoro to paddle as fast as he could after him.

Meanwhile in the sky, Luffy was feeling out of place: animals didn't eat people, people ate animals! Of course, he didn't have time to think on it as a cannonball had knocked him and the bird out of the air, subsequently cooking the bird from the heat the explosion created. The last thing that Luffy remembered before passing out from hunger was the feeling of freefalling.

Running through an abandoned city by three pirates was not the way that a girl should be spending her day. Unfortunately, when you stole from a pirate this was the result. The girl being chased was known as Nami. Her tangelo colored hair whipped about as she ran through the streets. Covering her body, which most men would kill for, was a striped shirt colored blue and white along with a skirt that matched the color of her hair. Although they were a blur her shoes were a dull red.

Of course, before she could even think up a plan a blessing came from the sky in the form of a boy her age knocking out all three pirates, ' _WHAT THE HELL?'_ Nami thought, her jaw dropping in surprise.No normal person could ever hope to live after falling from that kind of height. Going to the area where the boy was she saw that he was on top of the three pirates, looking dead to the world. Worried, Nami turned over the boy to find him alive, but knocked out.

An idea popped into her head all of a sudden. Nami quickly started to drag the boy inside of a house, in her opinion it was too much of a struggle for such a scrawny boy, ' _What is he made of, rocks?'_

All the while Luffy was being taken care of Zoro had taken on three stranded pirates in the ocean who explained to him that they had been had by a witch. Of course these three had tried in vain to steal the small dinghy and in the end they were now rowing the boat for him, "Thanks to you three I lost my friend! _Dumbasses_!" It was so frustrating. This led to more apologies, "Cowardly dumbasses at that! Is there a town near here?" They replied.

This troop of henchpirates was known as the Tightrope Funan Brothers. Zoro didn't care to learn their names and just addressed the trio as dumbasses or other such names, "Our boss has taken over Orange Town just a league away, sir!"

Zoro thought on where Luffy could have gone for a second and remembered the direction that the bird had went, "Which way is this Orange Town?" One of the three idiots pointed in the same direction as the bird had gone, "Good! Now start rowing before I kick your asses some more!" The Funan Bros. didn't argue the least bit and even sped up their rowing so as not to anger this man, who they began to suspect was Roronoa Zoro.

Inside of the house Nami was busy making a quick meal for the unconscious captain. The smell of cooking meat filled the room and like a starved animal Luffy awoke with a start and dove towards the meat with such vigor that it surprised the poor girl, "MEAT!" Biting and gnawing at the meat like a beast Luffy felt revived again, "Thank you, thank you so much!"

Tears came from the boy and it felt to Nami that she had just helped a very troublesome person, "Yo-you're welcome. What's your name by the way?"

"Name's-Luffy!" He said in between bites, "I'm a pirate!"

This captured the girl's attention immediately and she felt a deep seated anger rise up in her chest. She had just helped one of those monsters! She immediately grabbed her staff from the wall and pointed it at the young pirate captain, "I shouldn't have saved you, you damn pirate!"

Luffy, with his cheeks full of meat gave Nami a queer look, "Well, thanks anyways!" He said with a smile and a full mouth.

"DON'T TALK WITH YOUR MOUTH FULL!" Nami whacked him over the head with her staff. This of course was met with a howl of pain and quick swallow of the meat in Luffy's mouth, "Why are you here anyways, come to join Buggy?"

Luffy was more confused than ever now. Last thing he remembered was being carried off by his dinner, but now he was inside of a house eating and being hit over the head by some strange woman, "I don't even know where I am!" Nami knew that she at least owed him an explanation in return for knocking out those pirates.

With a sigh she began, "You're in a place called Orange Town. The Buggy Pirates took over this town a week ago. Those bastards chased everyone out of town until it was just them! Buggy stole all the treasure and set up his base in the tavern." She gripped her staff harder, "If you came to join him that's where he's at!" This whole era was a joke, "All pirates are, are scum! I hate pirates!"

"Why?" The young captain asked innocently, "Pirates are fun!"

Nami sneered at the thought, "You think murdering is fun?"

"No!" Luffy protested. Nami took note of the grim expression forming on the young man's face and put that in the back of her head for now.

The two's eyes met, "That's what pirates are, killers and scumbags! I hate this entire era!" Slamming her fist on the table Nami broke eye contact from the young man. Luffy could sense something amiss, but didn't feel the need to say anything; it wasn't any of his business.

"Think he'll let me be captain?" Luffy said with a pure innocence that none could copy. This question immediately brought down the tension in the room. It shouldn't have surprised her how innocent this pretend pirate was, but damn was he naïve. Immediately she began to think of a way to work turn this situation into a profit.

Nami began to slowly calm down as she began to think that this wannabe pirate was just a starry-eyed kid. Before anymore could be said the door suddenly began being hit hard by somebody. Nami dove to the floor and began to urge Luffy to follow her as she crept on the floor towards the back of the house. Alas it was too late as a man she had seen back in Shells Town was standing in the door with a pissed off look covering his face. "Luffy, there you are! Do you know how long I've been looking for you?"

"Sup, Zoro?" Luffy was casually just sitting, watching the whole event play out. Nami on the other hand was busy trying to piece together what was happening. The infamous Pirate Hunter Zoro was working for some no name pirate wannabe, or was it a ploy by Zoro to raise up a powerful pirate with a high bounty then betray him?

"Don't you 'sup' me, captain! I had to chase after you for a few hours, ran into a bunch of weaklings, and then I had to try each of these houses!" Sitting down in the chair opposite of his captain, Zoro finally took notice of Nami. "Who's she?"

Luffy turned his attention to a clearly confused Nami, "Dunno. I woke up in her house and she was making me some food, she's kinda nice!" Luffy smiled and it put the girl's heart at ease, if only by just a twinge.

Standing up off the ground she dusted herself off, "My name is Nami and I saved your friend here from Buggy's boys finding him." Zoro raised his eyebrow in response, "If it wasn't for me he'd have been bound and gagged by Buggy right now!"

"I doubt that very much, girl." Nami looked very confused by this statement.

"Why do you say that?" Nami finally asked.

"He has a Devil Fruit and I saw him take down the base the Navy has in Shells Town." A Devil Fruit was one thing that not a lot of people had outside of the Grand Line so when a pirate captain had one he was a big name in any of the four seas. However, that didn't guarantee that they'd make it at all in the Pirate's Graveyard, "I was the one that beat down Morgan, though." Zoro smirked and glanced at Luffy who returned the favor.

"Alright this time I'll take down this Boogey guy!" Nami could only watch as this conversation devolved into a competition. She became even more confused although that was belayed as Zoro's statement slowly sunk into her mind about Luffy eating a Devil Fruit.

"YOU HAVE A DEVIL FRUIT!" Nami jumped back a few feet from Luffy.

"Yea, I ate the Gum-Gum Fruit!" Luffy answered with a broad smile, "I'm a rubber man!" He stretched his arms over to the girl who was currently freaking out and patted her shoulder.

She could only keep on freaking out over what those two were arguing about, "Hold up! You plan on taking down Buggy the Clown?" Nami began thinking on somebody with a Devil Fruit fighting a powerful pirate like Buggy. She also wondered who would win, "He's worth over fifteen million Berri's! He's one of the top pirates in the East Blue! Why would you want to take him down anyways?"

"Because Zoro beat the last guy!" Finally standing up on his feet Luffy began to move toward the door, "Let's go Zoro, I wanna fight Boogey!"

Deciding not to even fight against these two guys stupidity an idea entered her head. A Devil Fruit user and the infamous Pirate Hunter team up to take down the Buggy Pirates. With their captain's high bounty along with their treasure it meant that a big payday was coming her way very soon, "Alright I have an idea!" Nami declared to all.

Zoro was busy looking over at Nami trying to figure her out. To tell the truth he didn't really trust this girl, something about her seemed off, "We do have a plan. We'll just walk up to him and kick his ass." Zoro was quick to state, "Simple and effective!" The room was oozing self-confidence. So much so that the young swordsman had to hold back from throwing up a peace sign.

"You can't just go up to everyone and use force! You need to scout them out, find out their weaknesses and then exploit that weakness!" This was how she got her work done. Her work, of course, was something she didn't want to explain to these lowly pirates what she did at the moment, "All we have to do is grab one of those pirates outside, wake him up, and interrogate him for what he knows about his captain, and _then_ you boys can knock his brains out!"

While Nami thought it was a great plan, however, Luffy did not. He scrunched up his face, almost in retaliation, "Nope! That takes all the fun out of fighting someone strong!" Zoro nodded in complete agreement.

' _IDIOTS!'_ Nami thought.

Of course all the commotion coming from this house had attracted the attention of an old man with a strange hair style. It was set in three distinct lumps, one on top and two on the side, his hair was grey and he wore a worn looking set of glasses. Wrinkles marred his face and his mouth looked like he had been frowning for days. He wore a yellow and green checkered short sleeved shirt under an old set of rusted iron armor that went from his shoulders to his chest along with two gauntlets along with a pair of blue jean shorts and some worn sandals. He was currently wielding a polearm for defense and wondered who the voices belonged to. This man was Boodle and he was the mayor of Orange Town.

In another part of the town a party was going on. However, this party was not a normal party for its host was all pirates, the Buggy Pirates to be more precise. Jugglers and tightrope walkers, clowns and animal tamers, stuntmen and strongmen alike were partying and drinking, reminiscing over their exploits. All praise went to their captain, Buggy the Clown.

Sitting on a chair made into a throne was a grinning man. He was of average height and wore a very outrageous outfit. He donned a striped white and red shirt with short sleeves, white gloves reminiscent of the ones worn by clowns, a sash around his waist like many other pirates, and a pair of loose pants reaching to his calves, just above a pair of striped socks and pointy shoes. He also had a scarf around his neck. Hanging from his shoulders there was an orange, fur-lined captain's coat. On his head he had an orange hat with his jolly roger on it, over a bandanna with the same pattern of his shirt. This man was the infamous Buggy the Clown and he was grinning because he now felt like he had a chance to make it back to the Grand Line after all these years.

Not many knew, but in his younger days he was a cabin boy with a certain infamous pirate crew with another certain pirate, Red Haired Shanks. This changed, however, after their captain's death they had parted ways. One had went on to recruit a crew of monsters and soon became known far and wide as a member of the Four Emperors while the other had taken to learning how to use the power of a devil fruit that had he had been forced to eat along with trying his best to fly under the radar and gather as much treasure as possible. However, as it stood now he would have a good chance of making it on the Grand line. He had the men, he had knowledge of the Grand Line, he had a devil fruit, and now he had the power of a cannonball that he had recently created that he had taken to calling a Buggy Ball. That, however, wasn't all that he had. Buggy had the knowledge of a power that no one in the four blues and even people at the beginning of the Grand Line which would come in pretty handy when it came to fighting individuals with certain Devil Fruits. His willpower wasn't that strong, but he had enough power to manifest this unique power in his fist.

Of course, for now he was enjoying himself too much to accomplish anything at the moment, "Cabaji, have those three I sent out returned yet?" He asked another man sitting close to him. The man he asked was a tall slender man with a unique hairstyle that covered half of his face his hair was light green where it was shaved on the shorter side while black on the longer side. He wore a large blue and white checkered scarf that covered the lower portion of his face, a sleeveless purple coat reaching down to his knees, white pants larger near the end and held up by a light blue sash, and white shoes. This man was the chief of staff of the Buggy Pirates, Cabaji.

This was where Cabaji began frowning, "You might not like this captain, but we found them down the coast unconscious. We woke one of them up and found out something very interesting."

"Tell me what it is, Cabaji, before I get angry!" Buggy had a feeling that he wouldn't like this.

"He told me that they had been beaten up by Roronoa Zoro who then forced them to bring him here in search of a friend." Cabaji was worried that Buggy might be worried about the infamous bounty hunter or even angry that some of his boys had been roughed up badly, but instead the clown captain laughed out loud.

His grin grew into a wide smile, "This is perfect! If I can beat the Pirate Hunter it would mean that I would finally be able to leave this sea! My reputation would skyrocket!" The party had died down at the mere mention of the Pirate Hunter, "Mohji, get your ass up here!"

A roar was heard coming up from the lower half of the bar that the crew was encamped at. Up from the bowels of the building a huge light green lion with a light purple mane came with a man riding on his back. Like all the other Buggy Pirates he looked quite strange. He had white hair, but in weird places such as on his chest and shoulders that made it look like he was wearing a shirt then on his head to look like a strap on teddy bear stocking cap. His bottom half he had a yellow sash covering blue trousers and a pair of brown shoes, "Yes, captain?" This man was the first mate of the Buggy Pirates, Mohji, a self-proclaimed animal tamer.

"Go into the town and find the Pirate Hunter!" One of the clown pirate's right hand slowly began to grip the armrest tighter and tighter. Soon it became apparent to his crew that the aura around their captain was changing for the worst and soon the armrest was crushed in the palm of Buggy's hand. He loved his crew! They were loyal and would follow him to the death and for some punk, even if it _was_ Zoro, to beat up some of his boys he would tear this town apart if need be to exact revenge.

"Got it, boss!" With a simple leap the lion was on the street and slunk in between the buildings in search of his prey with Mohji smiling all the while.

Back with Luffy, Zoro, and Nami things had changed as they had met the mayor of this town. Boodle had gone on to explain the entire situation to the three teenagers and the gravity of the situation had finally hit them. A pirate had taken over this town. Nami was beside herself with anger while Zoro looked indifferent on the matter. It wasn't that he didn't care at all, but he had seen all of this play out a hundred times before. As for the captain if one saw him they would see no smile and no frown, either. He stood up from the table and turned to the three, "Stay here, I'm going for a walk."

Boodle wouldn't have any of it, "You kids get yourselves to the camp outside of town." But before anymore could be said Luffy was gone, "I better go grab him before he gets himself killed!" Boodle said, and quickly walked after the boy leaving only Nami and Zoro in an awkward silence.

Glancing towards the girl Zoro told her, "Listen to the old man and get to that camp."

"I'm not leaving without Buggy's treasure!" It was a simple statement, but it did tell something to the swordsman.

He narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but didn't say a word. Every now and then he would hear a rumor or two about a thief that would clear out a pirate's entire treasure trove then disappear behind a wall of rain and lightning. To tell the truth he hadn't really believed it until now. That, however, was gone from his head as soon as he got a whiff from Luffy's plate of food, "You made Luffy food, right?"

"Yea, so?" Nami looked at the green haired man suspiciously

"C-could you make me some food, please?" Zoro voraciously stared at the plate with a faint rumble coming from his stomach.

Nami opened her mouth to say something, but decided against it. She needed to make sure these boys had the best chance of winning against Buggy, "Fine, just hold on a moment."

 **END**


	2. Chapter II: Luffy vs Buggy!

**So, my computer quit on me and I had to wait for my paycheck to get a new one. Sorry for the wait and I do have to give thanks to you guys that have followed and favorited this story! Okay so onto other stuffy! I love the idea of fanfiction. The idea of changing the story to what we want to see and reading different takes on canon it's all so interesting.**

 **I got most of this chapter done while listening to the radio in Final Fantasy XV… I just want to say I was twelve when this game was first announced as Final Fantasy XIII Versus… at twenty-two I literally cried when I put the disc in and had it all downloaded. I was so happy I cried… I never thought I would see the day that this day would come. Just wanted to put that out there. I also cried when I finished the game… don't judge me with your fifteen dollar haircuts…**

 **Anyways this time the question is; What Devil Fruit would you like to have? Personally, I would love to have the Bird-Bird Fruit Model: Phoenix. I would love to fly around as a giant blue flamed bird.**

 **Thanks to my awesome beta, autumnxwinds, for their help.**

 **Chapter II: Luffy vs. Buggy!**

Orange Town was a simple town built from the dreams of those that lived there. Two generations, going on three, called this island home, and now those people wondered if their dreams would live through the nightmare that was known as the Buggy Pirates. The pirates had descended upon the poor town like waves upon the shore. Now all the townspeople were out in the forest hiding, cowering, hoping that this terrible time would end.

Boodle had volunteered to go and check on the town a day ago, but he had yet to return or, for that matter, send any sort of message back. He was currently he was following the young man he had just met less than an hour ago to the bar at the port. Although he was falling behind he couldn't help but glance around at the empty buildings to notice that many of the doors had been bashed in by the pirates.

The mayor had slowed down to a walk when he realized he was near the pet shop. He exhaled and walked on only to be met by a screaming rubber man with a dog attached to his hand, "Chouchou, that'll be quite enough!" he shouted. "This boy is a friend!" The dog was small and white. Chouchou was the guardian of the pet shop, and he was protecting it from this intruder.

Fortunately for Luffy the dog let go, leaving a large bite mark on his hand, "This dog is really mean!" He yelled, then blew on his hand and tried hard to hold back his tears.

"Don't mind Chouchou, he's merely protecting what's his." Boodle knelt and began petting the hound with a small smile, "I was his owner's best friend up until a few months ago," This is where the aging mayor began to tell the story of Chouchou, his owner, Hocker, and the dream they shared at the pet shop. It was a story that made Luffy respect the small dog that had just bitten him and made him feel somewhat uncomfortable. You see Luffy had an aversion to hearing anyone's past, man or dog their past didn't make a difference to him.

"I like this dog!" Luffy held out his hand again to pet Chouchou, however he received a bite instead, "Damn you, doggy!" The two were back to rolling on the ground much to the amusement of Boodle.

Cracking a smile, he had to wonder why he couldn't shake the nervous feeling he was getting, "Well, well, well!" A voice cut out above Luffy's screaming, "I came to kill the infamous Pirate Hunter and what do I find? A boy, his dog, and his grandfather!" Mohji came out from behind one of the buildings riding atop Ritchie, "I guess I could warm up by killing you three."

Luffy stared blankly, even with Chouchou attached to his arm. He looked over at the mayor, "Why is there a bear riding a lion?"

Boodle looked incredulously at his young companion, "I'm not a _bear_!" Mohji replied through gritted teeth, "My name is Mohji the Beast Tamer, and I'm the first mate of the Buggy Pirates!"

"That Boogy guy has a bear as a first mate?" Luffy tilted his head in confusion, "He's cooler than I thought!" Sparkles of admiration came from the young captain's eyes. Chouchou, on the other hand, had released his new chew toy as he soon realized that he was getting no reaction.

This only served to piss off the first mate, "You really want to piss me off this much?" Mohji slid off his massive lion and strode up to Luffy until the two were standing toe to toe, "Fine! I'll now show you why they call me the Beast Tamer!" The older pirate set his sights on the small dog next to Luffy, "Any animal, no matter how close they are to their owners, falls under my control! **Dog, attack that boy**!" Mohji pointed from the dog to Luffy.

A tense few moments transpired until everyone realized that Chouchou hadn't moved at all. There he sat in his spot in front of his pet shop, his pet shop. Luffy and, soon after, Boodle began chuckling at the pirate, "Damn dog!" The triumphant smile that had once covered Mohji's face morphed into one of outrage. Never in his entire career as a pirate had he been this embarrassed!

"You suck!" Luffy said in between his deep belly laughs.

Even Mohji's pet lion let out a quick snicker, " **Ritchie**!" Mohji called out, "Attack that mutt!" The lion stepped up to Chouchou with a vicious, toothy grin plastered on his face. The small dog stood his ground and started growling at the oversized lion.

"Chouchou, run!" Boodle ran at the lion with his polearm ready to spear the lion's side, but he was knocked aside by the massive paw. The poor mayor flew back into one of the buildings. Luffy stepped between vicious beast and Chouchou.

The lion looked down at the young boy, his teeth protruding from his mouth, "Step away from the dog." The boy payed no attention to how truly frightening this beast was, he merely looked Ritchie straight in the eye, " **Now**."

Not backing down Ritchie swiped his paw again to slam Luffy away. Unfortunately for the lion, Luffy's younger days had included fights against vicious tigers, man eating crocodiles, and bloodthirsty bears twice his size. Ritchie's paw collided with Luffy's raised arm and a resounding crack was heard. The lion began bawling on the ground making him unprepared for what was to come. Luffy stretched his left arm back a few yards away, "Gum-Gum: Pistol!" Snapping his arm back Luffy embedded his fist into Ritchie's side and launched him back towards the Buggy Pirates' base of operations.

Boodle looked on in complete awe at the whole thing, " _What the hell?_ " The mayor's awe was soon replaced by curiosity as he got a whiff of the thick smell of smoke and the crackling of fire. Looking over at the pet shop he saw Mohji running out from the doorway with flames chasing him, " **No!** "

Luffy looked back at the sight of Boodle running towards the building on fire, "Don't, old man!" The younger man stretched out his arm to grab the older man by the collar of his armor, "You'll get burned!" Luffy yanked the old man back from the building.

Mohji's dark laughter rang out over the roaring fire, "This is what you get for making fun of me!" He pulled out a black bullwhip from behind his back, "Now it's time to hammer in that lesson!" Two sounds were heard; the first was the crack of the whip and the second was a yelp. Both the captain and the mayor looked down to see that Mohji had whipped poor Chouchou.

Luffy turned towards the older pirate with a glare. A glare that would scare a sea king.

/

Zoro patted his stomach and burped slightly as he enjoyed the meal he was given. Nami, on the other hand, looked slightly worried, "Aren't you worried about your captain, Pirate Hunter?" Standing up the swordsman stretched a bit.

"If I'm being a hundred percent honest with you, I doubt there are any pirates in that crew that can hurt a rubber man." When Zoro was done stretching he walked out the door with Nami in tow. Just as they stepped outside they saw Mohji flying over their heads towards the port bloodied and bruised.

Nami's eyes widened, "Did he do that?" No human should have the strength to easily toss a grown man high over a town.

"Time to get to work." Zoro untied his dark green headband from his left arm and tied it on his head as he headed in the opposite direction from where Mohji came flying.

"This way, Zoro!" Nami looked queerly at the pirate hunter. She then proceeded to lead Zoro towards Luffy.

/

Chouchou could only watch in horror as the building where he once made his home gradually burned. The memories he had made with his most trusted and beloved owner were slowly dying. His howling rose with the smoke. Luffy looked down at the dog with pity growing in his heart, "I'm sorry I couldn't stop him, doggy."

Boodle was as sad as Chouchou was, "Those pirates are evil!" He felt his entire body shake. The old mayor began pounding his fist against the cobble street.

"This, _this_ , is why pirates are evil!" Nami had walked up behind the small group, "Pirates don't care about anything but whatever they can take and what they can destroy!" Luffy glanced over at Nami and gave her a detached look.

"Zoro, let's go." Zoro took note that Luffy didn't have the same playful tone that he usually had.

With a crack of his neck the swordsman nodded, "Right, captain!"

"Nami, stay with the old mayor and the doggy." Another order. An order that Nami was about to refuse until she saw the face that Luffy was making. He was calm, however underneath that calm visage was a rage, "Keep them from getting too close." That was all that was said as the long walk towards the port began.

/

The first to stagger in to the pub were the three Inhuman Domingo's, which made the crew worry since they were three of the strongest members of the crew. Then to make matters worse Ritchie had crashed through the roof and into the pub proper. Finally, there came the bloodied form of Mohji.

He had landed right at Captain Buggy's feet, "Mohji," Buggy knelt and cradled his bruised head, "What happened to you?" Mohji's one good eye opened slightly.

"Zoro _'s partner_ did… this to me. He _ha_ s _a_ devil _fruit just like you!_ " Mohji half whispered.

What Buggy had heard, however, was, 'Zoro did this to me. He is a devil!' The clown pirate shook with rage, "Fire two of the Buggy Balls into the town!" He yelled out to his crew, "Let's see that bastard die in this flashy attack!"

"Yes, sir!" Two of his subordinates saluted then made ready the cannons. With one swift action the cannons were lit and then, in a flashy display of power, destroyed several blocks of the town. Two huge clouds of smoke rose from the town.

Buggy's laughter rose above the loud explosion. In his delight, he failed to notice that two men were standing in front of the pub, "Hey," a calm cut through the laughter, "You Buggy?"

The clown pirate looked down to see a boy with a very familiar looking straw hat along with a man wearing a green bandana along with three swords, "I am, and who are you?" Buggy glanced at the two then recognized the Pirate Hunter, "Pirate Hunter Zoro, I see you have a partner now! Did you come for my head?"

Zoro glanced at the clown, "Nope. My captain wanted to fight you, though."

"Well, you might not be after me, but if I beat yo-" Buggy paused. Zoro had a captain? He looked down at the straw-hat boy, "Him, he's your captain?" The rest of Buggy pirates looked on and laughed, "Oh you have to be joking! You are, aren't you, Zoro?" Sighing in disappointment, he turned to the boy and aksed, "Who are you by the way?"

Luffy cracked his knuckles, "I'm Luffy, a pirate."

"A pirate you say?" Buggy couldn't reign in his laughter, "An upstart recruited the Pirate Hunter? Is that it?"

"Yep." Luffy replied nonchalantly.

Buggy snapped his fingers and a cannon was rolled up already loaded with a Buggy Ball, "Kill these two! Whatever remains of Zoro we can grab and show to the world that I am not to be messed with! Die flashily, you bastards! Fire!"

The cannon fired, however a sight to behold was happening, "Now, Gum-Gum: Balloon!" Luffy inhaled all the air he could and his body expanded quickly until he indeed did look like a balloon. The Buggy Ball hit Luffy's large stomach and was quickly swallowed by the expanded body, "Have it back, **Big Nose**!"

Through gritted teeth Buggy had heard two words that he despised more than a certain red headed bastard. The clown pirate also didn't seem to realize that the young pirate had a Devil Fruit as well, "What?" The Buggy Ball destroyed the pub in a large explosion, leaving most of the pirates burnt, "Did you just call me Big Nose?" Buggy asked in a dangerous tone. Luffy looked up to see that Buggy had used two of his own crewmen to shield himself from explosion. Cabaji had the same idea and used Ritchie the Lion as a shield.

"Cabaji, you bastard!" Mohji struggled to get up from where he was laying, "Don't use Ritchie as a shield!"

Cabaji glanced back at his comrade, "He was there and I need to fight!" Mohji was about to protest again, but the chief of staff of the Buggy Pirates merely threw the charred lion onto the beast tamer leaving himself and Buggy the only remaining Buggy Pirates available to fight.

"Yep, I kind of forgot your name!" Luffy smiled and ignored the frustration coming from Buggy and the bickering of the clown pirate's crewmates.

Buggy, for his part was beyond frustrated, "First that thief steals my map to the Grand Line and now I have some upstart destroying my crew with his flashy powers!" It took Buggy a few moments to process everything and then he shouted, " **You have Devil Fruit powers?** "

"Jeez," Luffy picked his ear with his pinky, "You're loud!"

" **Answer the question!** " Buggy yelled.

"Fine, I ate the Gum-Gum Fruit, I'm a rubber man!" Said rubber man had begun stretching his arm back, "Gum-Gum: Pistol!" With a speed that put most people to shame Luffy sent his signature punch straight at Buggy.

However, before his punch hit, "Chop-Chop: Quick Escape!" Buggy segmented himself in a cavalcade of body parts. Luffy's punch sailed right on through the segments into the ground, "How's that for you, Gum-Gum?" His head floated above the rest of his segmented body with a triumphant smile plastered on his face. Zoro gasped slightly at the sight of it all. Two Devil Fruit users were about to duke it out, "I, too, ate a Devil Fruit!"

"Which one?" Zoro curiously asked the older captain.

"I'm glad you asked, Pirate Hunter, I ate the Chop-Chop Fruit, I'm a segmented human!" Zoro took his chance, however slim it might have been, to attack Buggy. He put his prized sword, his Wado Ichimonji, into his mouth and unsheathed his other two katanas. The clown pirate took notice of this, "I guess you want to try and cut me, right? Go ahead and try!"

Zoro started running at Buggy, "As you like!" The swordsman then unleashed one of his strongest attacks, "Oni Giri!" He could feel his sword cut through the pirate captain, but instead of the usual caterwauling, he was met with insufferable laughter coming from Buggy.

"See that? Even the mighty Zoro can't stop me!" Buggy was so busy laughing and carrying on that he missed the fist coming right at his face.

"Pistol!" Was all that he heard and Buggy was slammed back into the ground, his bright red nose stained crimson with blood.

Buggy got up quickly, " **You basdard! How dare you!** "

"You weren't looking!" Luffy yelled at the clown, "Besides aren't we fighting?"

"You're almost as insufferable as the damned Red Hair!" Buggy rubbed his nose. Luffy, on the other hand, had stopped. He hadn't heard about the man that had inspired him to be pirate in a long time.

Buggy took notice of the sudden change in Luffy and the younger pirate captain asked, "You know, Shanks?"

A face of utter disgust was all the reaction that was needed, "Of course I know him! That bastard is the reason why I have Devil fruit powers!" And so, began Buggy's tale of his and Shank's days as cabin boys with a certain pirate crew. The two would fight about the strangest things like which was colder, the north pole or the south pole? It was a long tale of how they had once taken a Devil Fruit after a battle with a rival pirate crew, along with an old treasure map leading to the infamous pirate Captain John's treasure. So, enamored was Buggy with the map that he soon began devising a way to get off the ship he was on and start out on his own.

Of course, while this was happening he had heard about how the crew was wary of eating the Devil Fruit and overheard one of his crewmates talking of how the cursed fruits sold for millions, possibly billions, of berris. It was all coming together now, he had thought to himself. Later in the night he took a fruit from the kitchen and colored it like the Devil Fruit. Pretending he had eaten it in front of the crew he told them that he felt no different and everybody thought the Devil Fruit was merely a fake.

Days passed and they neared an island and it was then that Buggy tried to steal away on a row boat with the real Devil Fruit and the treasure map. He planned to sell the Devil Fruit and with the money he would not only buy a ship, but he would also hire a crew to help him find the infamous treasure of Captain John. However, even the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.

While he was sneaking away Shanks had found him and thought he was sneaking food from the kitchen. Buggy hid the fruit in his mouth and sent him away, but forgot to take the fruit out of his mouth. As soon as he was sure that Shanks was gone he began to escape again, but he was surprised when Shanks made a sudden and unexpected return. The young Buggy ate the Devil Fruit whole and fell into the ocean. With this fruit being the real Devil Fruit Buggy was officially cursed and therefore the sea rejected his very being. As he sank into the ocean he cursed his luck until he saw that Shanks was swimming towards him.

Buggy then mentioned how Shanks had offered him a spot on his new crew, but Buggy wouldn't have any of it, "Shanks wanted to look down on me and my ambition!" The clown pirate said seriously, " **I would never work for that bastard!** "

Luffy, for his part, looked confused, "So Shanks saved you?"

The rival pirate seethed, but said nothing. Instead a begrudging smile slowly rose, "Usually I would yell or say something flashy. However, I know you won't live much longer!"

The creak of spokes and a tire came from far away and kept getting closer and closer until it sounded like it was next to him. Luffy glanced back to see Cabaji cycling towards him on a unicycle, "Shouldn't have become distracted, you rubber bastard!" The acrobat had a sword in hand and his target was Luffy.

Luffy didn't have time to dodge, but he didn't look fazed, "Zoro didn't beat you yet?"

"Don't worry captain I'll get him in one shot!" Zoro appeared like a wisp of smoke behind Luffy and blocked Cabaji's sword, "A swordsman that only uses cheap shots is a damn disgrace."

The remark bristled Cabaji's pride, "You think that's all I have?" Inhaling deeply the chief of staff readied his next attack, "Arsonist's Tech-"

"Oni Giri!" Three wounds opened on Cabaji's chest. His blood pooled and seeped as Zoro said, "I've taken out the trash, now finish off this circus bastard!"

Buggy looked utterly and completely annoyed. His crew defeated and he himself humiliated. How could such a lowly upstart beat a man of his caliber? The answer didn't matter now however, "Time to show you fools how scary I can actually be!" Closing his eyes Buggy slowly started concentrating his willpower into his right hand, "It's true I might be weaker than that flashy bastard, but even still I spent a few years on the Grand Line!"

Luffy perked up, "You've been to the Grand Line before?"

"Of course I have!" Buggy lamented on the fear he felt while on that sea all the while remembering the fond memories he had, "I know more about that sea than anyone in the East Blue! I've seen monsters that can tear apart the heavens with their own willpower and islands that defy all logic! Flashy rookies like you have no business there!" His hand soon turned obsidian black and both the younger pirates could feel the power emanating from Buggy, "Take this you rubber bastard! Chop-Chop: Cannon!"

Luffy didn't see any danger in a fist speeding at him. He was made of rubber! What blunt object could hurt him? Buggy's fist impacted the rubber man's torso and for the first time in a long time he felt pain from being hit. Luffy stumbled back and groaned deeply, "What… the hell?"

Buggy began to laugh harder, "How does that feel, _Gum-Gum_?" Luffy gripped his chest, "How does my Armament Haki taste?"

/

Nami watched the poor dog mourn the loss of his home. Boodle sat against one of the buildings trying to make sense of everything when he noticed the fire reflecting in her eyes. A small chuckle escaped his lips, "Better not leave those boys alone for too long or you'll miss your chance!"

Nami glanced at the older man, "My chance?"

"I've been alive three times longer than you, Nami, I know that something's been troubling you for a long time." The girl looked incredulously at the old mayor as he continued, "I have no clue what it is or how long it's been troubling you my dear, but the only way out might just be your two buddies."

"What? I don't know what you're talking about, mayor!" A smile, a smile that Nami was too use to making, met Boodle's serious look. It was a smile devoid of humor, devoid of happiness, and filled with grief, "I-" She wanted to say more, but couldn't.

"I have no right to pry, but those two reckless youths need guidance. Their knuckleheads that need a level head like yours to guide them." Getting up from his spot he shook off the dust, "You go and help your friends." He took one long look over at the pet shop and then began walking away slowly towards the refugee camp, "It bugs the hell out of me to leave my duty of protecting this town to you young'uns, but even I know my limits."

Nami weighed her options slowly. The young woman chewed on her lip trying to give herself a reason not to go. Breathing easier after a minute of indecisiveness she knew, however, the only answer to her unasked question.

/

Zoro never interfered with another man's duel. No matter how much he liked or respected a person he wouldn't help them if they were in a one on one duel. Seeing this battle between two Devil Fruit users almost made him change his mind. Almost.

"How the hell can you hit me? I'm rubber!" After taking a few hits Luffy was getting worn down.

"Chop-Chop: Cannon!" A hit to the face made Luffy fall to the ground. Breathing heavily, the younger pirate began thinking of ways to beat this bastard, "This is so fun! A flashy rookie like you shouldn't have come here! I have a question, Gum-Gum!"

"What?" Luffy rose from the ground to his feet.

"That straw hat… did it belong to Shanks?" Luffy could feel the disdain coming from the clown.

"Yea, he gave it to me the last time I saw him." Luffy glanced around after feeling a new presence enter the area, "This hat is the promise between me and Shanks! **It's my greatest treasure!** "

Buggy paused, "Treasure you say?" He asked rhetorically, "How dumb can you be? Treasure isn't an old, beat up straw hat! It's flashy things like gold, silver, jewels, crowns!" Digging into his coat, he pulled out eight knives and stuck the handles between his fingers, "Chop-Chop: Cannon!" His newly weaponized fist hurtled straight at the old straw hat on Luffy's head. Luffy grabbed Buggy's detached arm just before it hit him, but it didn't seem to faze the clown, "Chop-Chop: Cannon-Separate!' His hand detached again from his wrist and the knives tore the straw hat off of Luffy's head.

All everyone saw was the devastation written on Luffy's face. He couldn't believe that his straw hat was torn apart. The rubber man tried to grab it, but that soon turned to be futile as Buggy called back his hand with the hat still on it, "You bastard!"

"I might be a bastard, but at least I can defend _my_ treasure!" The clown mocked and belittled the poor boy, "It must take a flashy idiot to brag about his trea-" Before he could brag some more he was on the ground writhing in pain while grabbing his balls.

The cause was of course a staff held high in the air by Nami, "I thought you said you were going to kick his ass, Luffy?" She stood shaking from the adrenaline coursing through her veins. She turned to Zoro, clearly angered, "Why didn't you help him?"

Zoro glanced at the angry woman, "It's Luffy's fight, not mine." That was all he had to say about that. He ground his teeth in anticipation for the anger that was no doubt on its way towards him.

"I saved your rubber ass, now kick his!" Nami quickly fell silent as soon as she saw the look of utter rage on Luffy's face. She stepped away from both captains when she realized that Buggy was getting up, albeit slowly.

He looked over at the woman with a vicious grin, "If it isn't the thief that stole my map! Did you come to bring it back?"

"Never!" Nami defied.

"I see. Then take this!" His two hands departed from his body and fused together, "Chop-Chop: Buzzsaw!" His hands started spinning around and soon were nothing but a blur of steel and flesh. It came zipping towards Nami, but luckily Zoro blocked the attack without batting an eyelash.

"Gum-Gum: Whip!" Luffy outstretched his leg and whipped it at the body of Buggy. It hit him and knocked the rival captain into one of the buildings, taking out the wall in the process, "Now, Gatling!" Luffy began punching so fast and hard that his fists seemed to be multiplying, "And finish it off with, Battle-Axe!" He finished off his three-move combo by stretching one of his legs into the sky then brought it down on the building where Buggy was laying, destroying it and the street around it from the force, "Had enough?"

The sound of bricks being moved came from the wreckage, "Now that you mention it, no I haven't!" Buggy had gotten up from the rubble with an annoyed look and blood seeping from small wounds.

"Zoro, get Nami back a ways," Luffy ordered, "This battle is just getting started!" Zoro nodded in compliance. Grabbing Nami by her waist, Zoro carried the girl a few yards away. She wanted to argue, but couldn't find the words after seeing both pirate captains using their powers, "Gum-Gum: Pistol!" His fist launched at the clown and was met by Buggy's Haki covered fist.

It hurt, but not as bad as when he fought a certain marine grandfather of his. Terrifying memories aside, he kept on pushing, "Ready to give up you flashy upstart?"

"If I give up now, how am I going to beat you?" Luffy answered Buggy's question with a question, which only served to irritate the older captain more. Luffy felt like his fist would be crushed, but something in him erupted like a volcano, "Now, Gum-Gum: Pistol!" His left arm shot at the clown, but something was different about this punch. For an instant Buggy saw a hint of the boy's Armament Haki slowly awakening, if only for a second.

Buggy's teeth ground against each other as he slowly got up from the ground. Another fist came at him; however, he was ready this time, "Chop-Chop: Festival!" All the clown's body parts split away leaving only his feet on the ground. The rubber man took notice of this.

"Gum-Gum: Tickle!" Luffy grabbed the clowns foot, took off his shoe, and began tickling it. Buggy immediately reconstructed himself as he toppled over laughing.

Nami and Zoro on the other hand had been watching the battle from afar, both simultaneously excited and awestruck, "Zoro I have an idea!" Nami took off towards the battle with a mischievous smile. With a sigh Zoro followed. He didn't want to go along with her, but couldn't leave her alone during this tumultuous battle.

Buggy was on the ground laughing so hard that he couldn't concentrate. Soon after reconstructing he fell apart again, but something felt off. Luffy had ceased his tickling and Buggy had brought all his body pieces back together. He looked around and saw that everything seemed so big, too big, "The hell?" He walked forward, "Why is this taking so long?" It seemed to him that it took longer to walk around, "Wait." He looked down and to his shock he saw that the only body parts he had was his head, his hands, and his feet, "You bastards!" He saw that the map thief and the Pirate Hunter had tied his torso, arms, and legs together in a bundle.

"Hey, Buggy!" Luffy stood tall in front of the clown, "Get ready!" Luffy stretched back both of his arms far behind his back, "Gum-Gum: Bazooka!" He brought back his arms and hit the clown pirate with his two open palms. All Buggy could feel was pain as he shot into the sky and off Orange Island, leaving behind his ship and his crew. "Goodbye!" Luffy yelled at the sight.

The map thief had slipped through the rubble to find Luffy's straw hat. She looked all over the ground until she saw it. How could this be a treasure? She wondered to herself. She didn't really see it, but could somewhat sympathize. Memories of a certain tangerine grove came to mind, yet they soon got pushed to the back of her mind.

She dusted the hat off and took note of the four holes. She was sure she could find something to sew these up around here. She glanced over at the two-man pirate band with some interest. Both were laughing and it gave her a sense of wonder. The rubber man was someone that needed to be watched.

"Do you think it's true what Buggy said about Nami?" Luffy asked his crewmate.

"About having a map?" Zoro asked. Luffy nodded, "I don't know. It could be, but for all we know this so-called map could be a fake."

Luffy nodded again, "I've got to go deal with something. I'll be back so get ready to leave!"

With that Luffy walked off into town leaving Zoro to get their dinghy ready for travel.

/

Luffy walked through the town without a care in the world. The rubber captain looked around at the wrecked buildings surrounding the pub then slowly made his way to a certain howling dog, "Hey, doggy." Luffy sat next to Chouchou on the cobblestone road. The smoldering ruins filled the poor hound with a huge sense of loss, "I couldn't save anything, but how about this; I think that that Buggy guy might have some treasure. I could give it to that mayor guy and he could make a new pet store!"

As much as Luffy tried to cheer the dog up it didn't work. Luffy sighed softly, "I know that you're sad, doggy, but you shouldn't cry over it too much! You have all the memories of this place in your head!" Luffy wasn't particularly smart, but he could empathize with anyone that felt any amount of loss, "Just keep moving forward!" The dog nodded with tears in his eyes, "Oh yea, I beat up that clown!"

"Did you now?" Luffy turned around, surprised to see the mayor leading a large group of people through the town, "Captain Luffy, we are in your debt!" Mayor Boodle bowed down along with the rest of the town, "We'd like to throw you guys a party, to honor you for beating the Buggy Pirates!" The town cheered on.

"A party?" Luffy looked confused for a second then it dawned on him. A party! Pirates loved to party! He started cheering with the crowd, "Let's go see Zoro and Nami then!" Chouchou barked too and the large group headed off towards the port.

/

"Any Buggy Pirates here better clear out!" Zoro called out to the clearly conscious pirates. Most had stayed down while the two pirate captains were fighting. Those that tried to fight were quickly beaten into submission, "I'll chop up any of you bastards that want to keep on fighting!" The Buggy Pirates ran off with their tails between their legs. They had to carry Cabaji, Mohji, and Ritchie, but as soon as they got back to their ship they sailed away faster than a Navy ship with a tailwind.

"I thought that Buggy's crew was supposed to be fearsome and bloodthirsty!" Nami was not impressed by the cowardly pirates.

"They were only scary because of their captain's strength." Zoro had taken off his headband and retied it around his arm, "Once their captain falls they become a disorganized group of thugs." For Zoro it was quite boring that they didn't fight back, "Is it true?"

"Is what true?" Nami asked.

"What Buggy said about you having a map to the Grand Line?" Zoro felt that the tension could be cut with one of his swords as soon as he uttered the question.

"So what if I do?" Nami stepped back, "Are you going to take it from me?" She ground her teeth slightly. The orange haired girl could only feel frustration from being chased by one pirate crew after another just for a dumb map.

"Cool." Zoro just sat down on the ground. He could feel a cool breeze come off the ocean, but felt something, or someone was coming.

Nami was expecting the Pirate Hunter to take the map, "You aren't going to take it from me?"

"Nope. As much as I know it would make it easier on my captain, you did save him." Zoro rested his hands behind his head, "It wouldn't be right to take anything from an ally."

"You have high morals for a Pirate Hunter." Nami replied.

"I've never called myself by that title." Zoro grumbled at that name, "People can call me whatever they want, but that name annoys me."

"Hey Zoro, Nami the mayor guy's back!" Both his compatriots looked shocked at the large crowd, "They want to throw us a party!"

Boodle walked out in front of the crowd to the swordsman and the map thief, dragging Luffy behind him, "Thank you, all of you for your help!" Tears streamed from his eyes while he smiled, "If it wasn't for you three my treasure would've surely been destroyed by those bastards!" Nami perked up at the idea of treasure, however she knew that there was no way she could take treasure from them, "You see this island, my home, is my treasure!" All three looked proud, "Thank you Captain Luffy, thank you Pirate Hunter Zoro, and thank you Nami for all you've done!" Boodle had the crowd worked up now, "We'll rebuild this town and everything we've lost, but for now let's hear it for… what is your crew called, Captain Luffy?"

Luffy had no idea what to call his crew and neither did Zoro, but Nami on the other hand looked down at the straw hat in her hand, "The Straw-Hat Pirates," she said quietly.

"Let's hear it for the Straw-Hat Pirates!" The cheers of the crowd could be heard above the crashing waves of the sea. Nami didn't want to be labeled as a pirate, yet she let it go for now. The party started with everyone dancing and merrymaking until the food had finished cooking. Luffy alone ate enough food for three men. Zoro, on the other hand, drank two kegs of sake. Nami had found the need to dance and danced the night away.

They partied so much that they passed out sometime during the night. Nami had taken to snooping around where the Buggy Pirates were camped out and found a trap door that led to the basement of what remained of the pub. There she found a horde of treasure so large that Nami had estimated it's worth to be around three million berris. She felt as though she had died and gone to heaven.

Being somewhat honorable she split the treasure fifty-fifty with the boys, but they had handed their half to the mayor saying that Orange Town needed it more than they did. The next day around noon Luffy and Zoro began to prepare for the journey ahead of them, "Luffy we should get a cook for our crew."

"Why? We should get a musician instead." Luffy replied, but was met with a knock to the head.

"Why you ask?" Zoro knocked Luffy on the head again, giving him a lump, "We just fought an entire pirate crew because of us not having food! It should be our number one priority!"

"Do you guys even have a navigator?" Nami asked.

"Nope." Both men replied at the same time.

Nami grumbled, "I'll go with you fools until you can find a proper navigator."

"Sure! Zoro we have a new crewmember!" Luffy cheered on. They headed to the pier with packs of food and water ready to set out. The mayor met them there with a broad smile on his face.

"Seems like the time has come to part ways." A genuine smile graced his lips, "I wish you luck, Straw-Hat Pirates! I hope you can follow your dreams!" Just as the three young sailors had gotten onto the small dinghy another such ship had pulled up beside them.

"Big bro Zoro, is that you?" A gravelly voice called out from the second dinghy.

"Johnny? Is Yosaku with you?" Zoro seemed surprised.

 **END**


	3. Chapter III: The Cook Sanji!

**So, I'm rewatching the entire series with my little brother and I forgot just how good a lot of the older episodes are. We're on the Alabasta Saga and I must say there're a lot of good episodes. Like a lot of the filler in One Piece its quite enjoyable. This filler gave me some good ideas of what to write in when I get there. Also, I must say how much more enjoyable Alabasta was to Dressrosa. I'm not saying Dressrosa was bad, but it was so damn long… On top of that I feel that while Doflamingo was a good villain I do have to say that Crocodile as whole is a simply better villain.**

 **All moaning aside I am really enjoying myself showing my little brother One Piece. On another note, I must say that I absolutely am in love with Baroque Works and how strange most of them are… Mr. 4 and Miss Merry Christmas are hilariously strong… also in the dub the lady that voices Envy in FMA: Brotherhood voices Miss Merry Christmas so now whenever I see Envy now all I see is Miss Merry Christmas.**

 **Speaking of Christmas I hope all of you had a good one! Or at least had a happy whichever holiday you celebrate!**

 **Question of the week this week is: If you had a choice between working for the Donquixote Pirates or Baroque Works, which one would you work for? P.S. if there's any other group you would want to work for in the One Piece world which one would it be, villainous group that is. Navy doesn't count since it's a group for justice after all. Although I will say that CP9 is okay since Spandam had turned twisted the organization into one where he would come out as ruler of the world.**

 **Thanks as always to my beta reader autumnxwinds.**

 **Chapter III: The Cook Sanji and The Pirate Don Krieg!**

"Big Bro Zoro, is that you?" a gravelly voice called out from the dinghy across from the newly dubbed Straw-Hat Pirates. Zoro took notice of the man the voice belonged to. The man was tall and lanky with skin tanned from his days on the sea. He had short, trimmed, black hair that barely passed his forehead. He wore a pair of black sunglasses and on his left cheek there was a tattoo in kanji that read sea. He wore a purple shirt covered by a light blue hooded jacket with an armband around his left arm. He wore black boots along with grey trousers and at his waist was a sword.

"Johnny, what are you doing here?" Zoro was honestly taken aback by the sudden appearance of the man named Johnny, "Is Yosaku with you?"

Another man sprouted out of the boat, "Yea I'm here too, Big Bro!" The second man had a sword of the same make as his partner at his waist. However, unlike his partner he didn't wear sunglasses, but a snazzy piece of red headgear with an iron plate across the top. It looked as though he had shaved his head recently as his scalp wasn't as tan as the rest of his body. He wore a long green coat over a black t-shirt and an armband on his right arm. His pants were not pants at all, but a pair of plaid yellow shorts, revealing his hairy legs that led down to his brown boots.

"You know these guys, Zoro?" Luffy pondered, "They seem weird."

"We aren't weird!" Johnny replied as he stood to the left, the crew's left, with his right arm crossed across his body and his left arm holding his chin. To his left stood Yosaku with his left arm crossed and his right arm holding a cigarette to his mouth.

Both stood for a second without moving and with a mighty shout the first man with the sunglasses began, "I am Johnny!"

"I am Yosaku!" the second man shouted in the same manner.

"And we are bounty hunters!" they finished in unison. All that were present were not impressed, although it did give Zoro a grin.

Zoro let out a light chuckle, "I used to go sailing around with these two hunting pirates!" Mayor Boodle had left the group, seeing as he no longer felt the need to linger around. As he left he smiled at the growing crew, "What brings you two here?" Nami on the other hand sighed.

' _Great, more idiots._ ' She sat against the railing of the dinghy looking somewhat annoyed. She casually thought about how she chose the wrong ship to sail on.

"We're here to capture Buggy the Pirate and turn him in to the Navy!" It appeared Johnny only had one setting of volume for his voice: loud.

His claim was met with the faint sound of construction and the lapping waves hitting the stone pier, "Too late for that guys, I beat Buggy yesterday!" Luffy laughed and clapped as he bragged, "He was pretty strong for a clown, though." Both bounty hunters looked quite dismayed by the events that had transpired.

"You beat him? Single handedly?" the shaved headed man asked the young pirate captain. Luffy in turn merely nodded with a goofy smile, "But there's a rumor that he has one of the Devil Fruits!"

"So, does he, Yosaku." Zoro stated while he grabbed his captain's cheek and pulled toward him, stretching his face out, "Oh yea, this is my captain, Luffy, and our new navigator, Nami!"

Both were amazed by Luffy's power, but felt off, "Big Bro Luffy, Big Sis Nami, it's so nice to meet you!" Johnny greeted the two with a large, goofy smile, "How did you guys meet, Zoro?"

"I saved him from being killed at a Navy base." Both the bounty hunters looked quite shocked by this revelation.

"Wait, I think I remember hearing about this!" Yosaku exclaimed, "I heard that after a battle with the former captain of Shells Town a pirate had recruited the infamous Roronoa Zoro into his crew. Last I heard that… they…" The bulkier man started to put two and two together.

Johnny put his fist in his open palm, "You're a pirate big bro?"

"Sad to say that I did change my profession, but what can I say my captain offered better benefits." Zoro had taken to standing with both his arms crossed, "It was good seeing you two, but I think it's time for us to set sail, right Luffy?"

"Yea, we're off to find ourselves a musician!" Luffy laughed.

Zoro turned around and knocked his captain on the head for the third time that day, "No! We're looking for a cook!"

"But we _need_ a musician, Zoro!" the rubber man whined, "Pirates love to sing!"

With a sigh Nami just simply got up and knocked the rubber man's head as well, "No as a captain you need to think about what your crew needs most." She sat down on one of the seats and crossed both her arms and legs, "A musician sounds nice now, but who's going to feed you, you dope? Get a cook first, then focus on recruiting a musician."

"Oh, that makes sense." reasoned the rubber pirate.

Both bounty hunters smiled, like they knew something, "What are you two thinking? Spit it out." Zoro ordered.

"We know of where you can find a cook." Johnny started.

"In fact, they're the toughest cooks in the East Blue!" Yosaku continued.

"Where is this place?" Luffy asked the duo. He was super curious now! He did want a cook, but a tough cook would be even better.

Both the bounty hunting duo smiled widely, "It's called the Baratie and it's at the edge of the Grand Line!" the two said in unison. To the rubber pirate it smelled like a brand-new adventure to be had.

The bounty hunter wearing sunglasses leaned over to Zoro with a knowing grin, "It's been said that a certain hawk-eyed man has been sighted there as well!"

A multitude of expressions crossed Zoro's face. It started at shock and awe, then moved onto one of a tense excitement, "Are you absolutely sure?" All eyes moved to the green haired man no one had ever seen Zoro look like this, " _He_ is there?" Both bounty hunters smiled.

"Latch your ship to ours and we'll sail there together!" Yosaku offered.

"Why?" Nami was naturally suspicious of the two bounty hunters, "How do we know you won't just turn us in after leading us to a Navy base?"

Luffy stared the two bounty hunters down, taking in their every movement and every reaction, then said, "We can trust these two! Nami help them plot our course!"

Although she wasn't bound to the crew like Zoro, Nami still opted to take orders from the rubber captain. Johnny tied a thick rope to the bow of the Straw-Hat's dinghy while the new navigator hopped over to the bounty hunter's ship and began to chart a course with the help of Yosaku.

And like a snap of a finger the two ships carried the five sailors off to the East Blue's greatest restaurant, The Baratie. However, none of them yet knew of the events that were to come.

/

Of course, the Straw-Hat's and their new allies weren't the only ones that were unaware of events to come. On a small ship sailing away from a multitude of Navy battleships was an emaciated man wearing a thick, fur cape and a large violet wig. He grunted from hunger and felt like toppling over, but knew if he did it would be all over for his captain, ' _Stay safe, Don Krieg._ '

The next thing that this man knew was that he was chained up in the brig of a Navy Ship.

/

It took a few days of sailing to get to the majestic sea restaurant, but the two tiny ships finally came into view of a large ship shaped like a giant fish. The entire ship was the shape of an oval with a large fish's head as the figurehead while the rudder looked to be that of fish's fin. At the center stood three levels of decks with two masts close to the front and to the back.

The first level was that of the restaurant with docks on the outer portion for when ships arrived, while from the second level one could smell the savory aroma of the chefs cooking, signifying that this was the kitchen. Finally, the top most portion looked to be where the staff made their homes. Johnny and Yosaku had seen the Baratie more than a few times, but each time they were amazed at it, "Welcome Big Bros and Big Sis to the sea restaurant, Baratie!" Ten ships of every shape and size were docked including a smaller Navy Vessel.

The Navy ship was not made for combat so much as it was made for speed. On its sails in big bold letters was the word 'Marines' signifying that this ship was under the command of the Naval Marines. While the entire organization of justice was known as the Navy the soldiers were known as Marines. This ship was under the command of Navy Lieutenant 'Iron Fist' Fullbody, a big name in the East Blue.

"We just need to find an open dock to tie our ships to and then we can go in and enjoy the laps of luxury!" Yosaku stood up grinning like a madman. He didn't have a stomach like Luffy's, but he did enjoy good food.

Johnny tensed as he remembered a time when they came here drunk and said, "Just be sure to pay your bill and not bother any of the other patrons." The group looked at Johnny then glanced at Yosaku as the two displayed nervous shaking, "The cooks here will kick your ass if you step out of line."

With that the group made their way to the doors of the restaurant. With a simple push, they found themselves in an opulent dining room with many hand carven chairs and tables that were covered by what looked like pure white sheets. The floor looked to be marble while at the center of the room there stood a large brick pillar with a fireplace that gave the large room a warm feeling. Those who sat near the windows were in view of the decks of the ship along with all the other ships that were docked.

"This place is pretty swanky!" Nami awed at the place while the rest of the wayward sailors were equally amazed. Even the usually unimpressed Zoro was impressed.

"Welcome to the Baratie you damn crooks!" A very large man had appeared before them in the blink of an eye. His arms were as big, if not bigger, than a ship's wooden mast, and extremely hairy with thick calluses built up on his hands from years of working as a cook. On his left arm were two interwoven heart tattoos. His shirt, which looked like it had been stitched back together a couple times, was navy blue and short sleeved with yellow buttons on sides and at the end of the sleeves they were light blue. His pants were knee-length and the same color as his shirt and his shoes were brown with scuff marks all over.

This man was known as Patty and he was one of the main cooks at the sea restaurant, "Huh?" Luffy asked, "Crooks? No we're pirates!"

"Pirates, you say?" Patty tensed up. In the past most of the pirates who came to the Baratie tried to leave without paying, "Are you paying customers or are you trying to get a free meal?"

Both Zoro and Luffy turned to their navigator with eyes of hunger, "You two should have kept some of that treasure!" she said excitedly, "But oh well, I'll pay for your meals. You'll just have to pay me back later!" she said in a singsong voice.

"We'll be paying," Luffy told Patty.

"Now and later," Zoro remarked offhandedly. The swordsman's two old friends followed him glowering at the woman. The large man lead the group to table for five.

He smiled charmingly, or as charming as Patty tried to be, "I'll bring you out some water as soon as I can, dear customers!" Patty was about to walk away when Luffy grabbed his arm.

"I'm looking to recruit a cook for my crew," the rubber captain began, "Who's the best cook here?" Luffy showed off a toothy grin to the older man. This grin only served to make his two crewmates wonder who they'd be sailing with soon.

Patty looked to be thinking it over when he finally told the young pirate, "After you eat you should talk with my boss, Chef Zeff." He also started thinking on something, yet hesitated to say anything, "I might know a cook that would join you, but he's just too stubborn of a jackass to leave the Baratie. I'll get you when it's time for your sit down with the boss."

Nami looked incredulously at the cook, "He acts like this is some kind of mafia den!" she whispered hurriedly to Zoro. In turn the swordsman merely nodded in agreement.

/

Across the room there sat a very elegant, and drop dead gorgeous, woman at a fine table sipping from a glass of wine. She was accompanied by a very slick looking man in a white pinstripe suit eating a spoonful of soup. His short hair was a violet cover and under his right eye was a stitched-up scar that he had received from a battle long ago. This man was known as Lieutenant Fullbody, or in some cases 'Iron Fist'. The reason for the name was a piece of steel bolted to his knuckles.

Today was the day that Fullbody had been waiting for. He had finally gotten a date with the most beautiful woman in the town where his base was located, Moodie, but when he had arrived at the restaurant he found himself being undermined at every turn by one of the chefs. He had finally had it and had put a bug in his soup then said, "Hey, chef!"

The chef that walked over to the Marine's table had stolen Luffy's interest. He was tall and lanky with blonde hair that covered his left eye. His clothes consisted of a black suit with two sets of gold buttons on the front while under his suit was a blue pinstripe shirt and a black tie. "How may I help you?"

"You call this soup cooked to perfection?" The cook looked curiously at the Marine, who pointed at his soup, "What do call this roach?"

The blonde cook smiled, "It looks like it's swimming!"

The marine lieutenant stood up rapidly and then with a mighty heave he slammed his iron fist into the table. It split in half with splinters flying all over the place while Moodie gasped in shock. The soup fell to the floor in a pool of wood, " **I am the customer! Treat me with respect!** "

"That soup took our chefs three days to prepare." The blonde chef picked up a piece of the broken bowl.

"So what! You've been disrespecting me all day!" Fullbody got up in the cook's face, "I paid for the best wine, the best food and some damned cook thinks he can walk up to me and start screwing up my day?" Fullbody was a man that enjoyed an affluent lifestyle

"Fullbody, maybe we should go!" Moodie tried to grab her date, but was thrown back to the ground.

That was the final straw. The blonde cook pulled a cigarette from his suit and popped it into his mouth. He then pulled out a flip lighter then lit his smoke, illuminating his fearsome glare as he said, "Can your hunger ever be satisfied?"

Fullbody looked queerly at the cook before receiving a hard kick to the face. He fell back onto the floor thanks to another quick kick to his stomach. On the ground, all Fullbody could feel was pain as he received what felt like hundreds of kicks. Finally, when the cook had relented, he felt himself rising in the air.

"Sanji, no!" Patty had run over to the blonde cook known as Sanji and saw that Sanji was holding the bloody marine by his head with one arm. Patty had pulled him back away from the Marine, who dropped to the floor unceremoniously, "What the hell are you doing to one our beloved customers?" This sounded like it had happened before. Luffy took note that this Sanji character seemed strong.

"This son of a bitch mocked us," Sanji's deadly tone made most of the diners shudder, "and he dared to lay his hands on a woman!"

" **What the hell is going on here?** " The sound of wood hitting wood echoed throughout the dining room. Zoro was the first in the crew to notice where the sound was coming from and what he saw was less than impressive. He saw an average sized man with a slight pot belly and thick, bulky arms. He wore a chef's hat taller than he was along with a white chef's shirt covering a blue and orange striped shirt and around his neck was a blue ascot, "Sanji, who are you trying to kill now, you brat?"

The older blonde got into the younger's face almost instantaneously and began tearing into him, "How the hell are we supposed to keep our customers when you keep beating the shit out of them?" Patty had stepped back, but had his arms crossed.

"This bastard deserved it!" Sanji clenched his teeth, finally gnawing through his cigarette.

"I don't care!" The older man kicked Sanji a good six feet away.

Fullbody, who had finally regained enough semblance to pick himself off the floor, said, "You cooks should learn some respect! I'll shut you down!" The old man turned towards the young marine with an expression that could only be described as pure annoyance.

"Shut your damn mouth, brat!" With a brutal kick from his peg leg the old chef had slammed Fullbody away into the door. "As for you, Sanji, get back to work, and you too Patty! I ain't running a damn lounge for you layabouts!"

"Get to work your damn self, geezer." Sanji stalked off into the kitchen.

Patty nodded, "Got it, Chef Zeff." He followed Sanji in a less moody manner.

' _This restaurant is run like a pirate ship!_ ' Fullbody thought to himself before passing out.

/

Chef Zeff started to walked past the Straw Hat crew, but stopped when he noticed that Luffy had been watching him and asked, "What do you want, brat?"

"I want to recruit one of your cooks for my crew." Luffy looked at Zeff square in the eye, "That blonde guy, Sanji, how about you let me have him?" The two men stared each other down, eye to eye, for what seemed like an eternity, both trying very hard to read the other.

Then Zeff laughed with a crooked grin, "Have him." The old cook walked off to the spiral staircase while Luffy grinned like a madman.

Of course his happiness was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a Marine grunt running in the door, sweat covering his entire face, "The Krieg Pirate we apprehended has escaped, Lieutenant Fullbody!" The marine looked around for his commanding officer, but found him unconscious. "Sir, wake up!" He shook Fullbody awake just in time for the commanding officer to see his subordinate shot in the chest by the pirate they had taken in just a couple days ago.

The pirate slunk into the restaurant, scaring most of the customers. His eyes were darkened from lack of sleep and he wore a grey and blue striped headband covering short black hair that looked like it hadn't been washed in weeks. He had a deep tan along with growing whiskers where a mustache and beard should be. This man had two red earrings in each ear and he wore a grey track suit with two red dragons on either side of the zipper. His black boots resounded as he found himself an empty table.

The entire dining room began whispering about the Krieg Pirates. Even Johnny and Yosaku were growing shaking like the rest of the diners, but not from nervousness; they were excited, "Hear that brother?" Yosaku asked, grinning like a hungry wolf.

"Yea, a Krieg Pirate!" Johnny smiled coolly, "I thought the rumor circling the sea was that Krieg went to the Grand Line?"

Their banter was cut off when Patty walked up to the pirate, "Welcome, you crooked bastard, how may I help you?"

"Bring me some food." The pirate crossed his legs and threw them on the table, "Don't make me ask twice."

Patty smiled, "And how will you be paying?"

"With some lead." He lifted his double-barreled shotgun in response.

"So, you won't be paying then?" The smile fell into a viscous grin, "Screw off then!" Patty clasped his two hands together then slammed them down on top of the pirate's head. The pirate's stomach soon called out to satisfy its hunger and Patty said, "Sounds like you're hungry!"

"Are you crazy," the gaunt man began, "that was just a fart." He had no energy to fight, but continued to act tough.

"We'll pay for him." The Krieg pirate Gin glanced at where the voice called and saw that it was Luffy. Now the young captain wasn't one for charity, that is if he wasn't on the receiving end when it came to food, but there was something about this man that Luffy liked.

"I don't need your pity!" Gin grit his teeth from the effort of picking himself up from the ground, "Save it for someone who needs it, because I don't."

"Don't sweat it." While his crewmates looked strangely at him, with Nami looking pissed off at best, Luffy just smiled at the man, "Just eat something!"

A myriad of emotions came over the pirate and he said, "Thank you." While the rest of the diners were nervous, many went about their meal without putting too much thought into it.

/

Fullbody was pissed when he saw the trail of bodies leading back to the destruction of his ship. He had found that a small contingent of Marines had been left, "Lieutenant, what happened in there?" One of his less beaten subordinates limped up.

"I don't want to talk about it." The beaten commanding officer walked in defeat to his cabin, "Get us to the nearest base immediately we need to get a new ship and reinforcements." Fullbody would return, and when he did this restaurant and that damned chef would pay. He would make sure of that.

/

The Straw Hat crew had eaten their fill and were now relaxing at their table when Zoro felt something strange coming their way, "Luffy you feel that?"

"Yea it feels kind of like an overbearing feeling, and it's coming this way." Luffy saw a strange sight in front of him, of Sanji coming their way holding the most delicious looking fruit dish he had ever seen. However, that wasn't the strange part, what was strange was that he could see hearts surrounding the cooks head and an overall aura of _love_.

Sanji knelt down in front Nami, "My dear, you are a gift from heaven itself! Such a heavenly figure deserves only the sweetest ambrosia." Zoro's eyebrow twitched as Sanji continued, "This will all be on the house, for how can I dare to charge such a beautiful piece of art?"

"What about us?" Johnny asked the blonde cook.

Sanji looked at the man with a straight face, "The check will be handled by Patty."

"Hey cook, how about joining my crew?" Luffy casually asked. The cook turned his attention to the young captain.

"Your crew?" Sanji took notice of the ragtag group of men and one woman sitting at the table, "Crew of what?"

"Pirates!" Luffy's bright enthusiasm was met with Sanji's straight demeanor.

"Not interested." Sanji walked back away from the table and passed the table that belonged to Gin. The blonde cook glanced at the pirate, who was busy swallowing pieces of the dish whole, then back towards the captain. Sanji continued to saunter off until he was out of sight.

Luffy walked after him like how a shark chases after its prey. Zoro couldn't understand why his captain wanted this cook, so he went back to lounging in his chair. He also noticed that the pirate they had paid for had followed their captain outside.

/

Sanji was leaning against the railing taking a smoke break from the kitchen when he heard the door to the restaurant open, "Hey cook, I was wondering why you weren't interested in setting out to sea?"

"You again?" Sanji looked over at the smiling visage of the rubber captain, "I already told you I don't want to join a pirate crew, didn't I?"

Luffy chuckled, "I got the same response from Zoro when I asked him!" the rubber man responded in remembrance of the day he had recruited his swordsman.

"Zoro, as in The Pirate Hunter?" The blonde had obviously heard of the infamous bounty hunter, "You recruited him?" It either spoke volumes for the captain or possibly how easily swayed Zoro was.

"Yea, and I also have Nami as a navigator!" The captain added.

Sanji's heart began to race at the mere mention of Nami. Ah, how sweet a name. She was a wave of pure bliss that made the cook feel as though he could float on air. In fact he did float on air along with spinning like a Tasmanian devil on crack cocaine and he could even turn his eyes to hearts. How, you might ask yourself? He had the power of love on his side!

"Why don't you want to become a pirate anyways?" Luffy was curious about why. There were tons of adventures to be had! Why wouldn't anyone go on a cool adventure?

"Besides not wanting to be hunted down like an animal?" The young captain nodded and Sanji said, "I can't leave this place, there're too many obstacles in my way. Why do you want me anyways?"

"Well you are a cook, and you look pretty tough, so why wouldn't I ask you!" While Sanji was thankful for the compliment, he continued to be adamant on not joining up with the Straw Hat crew.

Their moment was interrupted by the sudden appearance of the Krieg Pirate, "My apologies for cutting in, but I couldn't help, but hear that you're a pirate captain."

"Yea, I just started out." Sanji couldn't help noticing that this pirate captain almost never stopped smiling. He was loath to admit that it wasn't infectious.

"My name is Gin and I'm a pirate as well!" Gin bowed before the man that had saved him from hunger and asked, "What is your goal, Straw Hat?"

Gin's intense stare didn't affect Luffy as much as the Krieg Pirate thought it would, " **To be the King.** " Luffy said it as simply as saying hello. His confident smile didn't seem to waver in the slightest. Gin could've sworn that the younger man had grown to be twice his size. Sanji simply turned away from the duo and gripped the railing as tight as he could.

"That means that you're headed to the Grand Line, right?" A cold sweat took over the more experienced pirate, "Listen to me when I say this: **don't go**!"

The seriousness in Gin's voice made Luffy adopt a more curious face, losing his smile in the process, "Why? It's supposed to be the greatest sea on the earth!"

"Yea, why is a Krieg Pirate so frightened?" Sanji chimed in, "I thought your crew was supposed to be the strongest in the East Blue."

"Krieg Pirates, who are they?" Luffy asked out loud.

/

In the kitchen of the Baratie Patty was busy slicing up a fish, "You're lucky that kid out there pacified that pirate! I'd hate to deal with the Krieg Pirates!" another chef yelled at the large man. This chef was smaller than Patty and his five o'clock shadow covered most of his lower jaw. He wore a chef's uniform much like Zeff, but instead of a tall hat he had one of a reasonable size. His short brown hair was combed out of his eyes, of course those were covered by a pair of sunglasses. This man was named Carne, and he had been friends with Patty since before they even came to the Baratie.

"I don't give a damn!" Patty had obviously heard of the devious Don Krieg, but what did he care? He kept up his work, "It's not like Don Krieg is coming here anyways!"

Another cook working asked about the infamous Don Krieg, and so Carne started to explain to the kitchen about the pirate. He was said to have started a few years ago, when the man had disguised himself as a marine and when he was ready to announce himself he killed every Marine on board of the battleship he was on and gathered up a crew of cutthroats. When he went to raid a port, he would raise the Marine flag to enter and when the town was at their most vulnerable Krieg would sack his target and steal everything that wasn't nailed down.

Krieg soon became so feared that fifty pirate captains pledged their allegiance to the Krieg Pirates. He was then known as the Pirate Commodore with more than five-thousand men under his command. His crew was said to be a bigger threat than that of Saw Tooth Arlong and his crew of fishmen. It was said that the giant crew had entered into the Grand Line, which is why that Patty wasn't scared in the slightest of Krieg coming.

/

"We only lasted a week there." The icy cold fear coming from Gin's voice could be felt by both the cook and the captain.

"What happened?" Sanji curiously asked.

"I don't know!" Fear of the unknown had taken Gin's heart, "We sailed there and never saw an island. All we saw was death! We returned here with our flagship torn to shreds, our crew shattered, and our spirit crushed. That was only a week in the hellish sea!" Luffy was reminded of a certain pink haired Navy wannabe, but pushed that aside as Gin continued, "There are plenty of opportunities to be a great pirate here in the East Blue. Take my advice and stay away from the Grand Line."

Luffy merely smirked, "Thanks for the advice, Gin, but I'm going to go there anyways!"

"Good luck to you then, my friend!" It didn't take long for Gin to find a small, unmanned dinghy and steal away on it, "I hope to see you one day!"

"I have a feeling we will!" Luffy waved at Gin who was quickly disappearing into the horizon, "Back to business!" But the rubber captain had turned around to find that Sanji had disappeared on him.

/

The crew had taken to sleeping in the open air while Nami slept on the inside of the small wheelhouse. The two bounty hunters resided on their own boat. Currently Luffy was staring up at the stars wondering just how to recruit the blonde cook to his crew. He saw what looked like a shooting star and marveled at it.

"I've heard that you have to make a wish on those." a familiar voice told him. "Or that's what everyone says."

"What are you doing up late, cook?" Luffy sat up from his sleeping spot to notice that Sanji had ditched his suit and was just wearing his blue shirt.

Sanji yawned, "I just got done working," he replied, "It was my night to do the dishes."

"Have you changed your mind yet about joining my crew?" The captain asked.

"I still refuse," was the cook's reply.

"Well I refuse your refusal!" When the rubber captain's mind was set on something he would usually get it, "Give me a few days and I'll change your mind!" Sanji walked off, still quite annoyed at this rubber-brained idiot. For some reason though, his annoyance wasn't particularly towards Luffy's constant tries at recruiting him.

/

"It's as I said, Don, this is where we can become ourselves again!" Gin had made it back to the torn-up ship he had escaped from a few days prior, "They will feed us, all of us!"

"Good," a weak, but sinister voice uttered from a darkened corner of the cabin Gin was standing in, "Prepare to set a coarse for the Baratie!" A large man stumbled into the light and his clothes could only be described as gaudy. Draped over his drooping body was a purple, fur coat covering a bright orange shirt with black horseshoes printed on it and a set of gold chains. Wrapped around his lavender hair was a set of bandages and he wore a pair of lavender pants.

This man was known as Foul Play Don Krieg and he had a bounty of seventeen million berris, "At once, Don!" Gin accepted the order without question.

 **END**


	4. Chapter IV: Following Your Dream!

**Well the work I've had to do to for college has taken up most of my time to write along with my usual job so I'm sorry if this is coming out late and I apologize for anymore chapters I release late due to work and college. On another note, I must say that I haven't done a good job at replying to those reviewers who answered my questions so here we go!**

 **To my first reviewer on this story, Awareness Bringer: Thank you for suggesting Mass Effect/Halo as a crossover. It's one that sounds interesting and one I've never thought of reading! Also, yes Ivankov's Hormone-Hormone Fruit is definitely very creepy.**

 **To my second reviewer on this story, Black' Victor Cachat: Robin's fruit is pretty damn awesome once you think about all the possibilities it could be used for, Robin can make wings (for five seconds)! I do agree that you would have a longer life expectancy working for Doflamingo, but would you honestly like to sail on a pink flamingo pirate ship? I don't plan on having Fullbody join the Straw Hats, but I definitively have an amazing plan for him that I hope you and the other readers like.**

 **So, the question this week is: If you had a choice as to which island you could have as a territory which island would you chose? My personal choice would be the winter island of Sakura Kingdom since I do love winter and snow. Of course, I would get cold!**

 **As always I have my beta, autumnxwinds to thank for helping me with this chapter!**

 **Chapter IV: Following Your Dream!**

It had been a few days since the arrival of Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates, and it had been a few days since Luffy had begun his constant barrage of asking the chef Sanji to join his crew. So far it wasn't as successful as the young captain had hoped it would be. Both of his crewmates were beginning to tire of the sea restaurant, Nami more so than Zoro since they were rushing through what was left of the treasure they had taken after their defeat of Buggy the Clown.

Currently the crew was sitting outside on their dinghy watching the sun rise over the horizon. The duo of bounty hunters was still asleep leaving the Straw Hat's to talk amongst themselves, "Luffy, we should go look for another Cook," Zoro suggested, "It doesn't seem that this cook is going to join us." He was bored. He had enough food, but he was bored. Even though there was good sake here he couldn't drink any of it since their witch of a crewmate wouldn't let them drink anything except for water! It was quite unbearable for the swordsman.

Nami nodded in agreeance. Of course, her reason was way different than Zoro's, "In the past few days we've blown through at least two-hundred thousand berris! If we lose anymore I _will_ hold you responsible, **Luffy!** " The dangerous tone could be heard by both crewmates. It gave two of the strongest people in the East Blue the shivers.

Of course, this would be a day to remember for fate had decreed that three forces would clash here. However, none knew what was to happen as they went about their business, "Don't worry we can always find more treasure!" Luffy replied nonchalantly.

"No, we can't!" a quick knock to the head thanks to Nami's staff made Luffy fall to the ground, "No one, and I mean absolutely no one, in the East Blue has ever had as much treasure as Buggy the Clown! We were lucky to even get his treasure horde!" The navigator began lecturing the rubber captain, "If I have to spend even a single berri more on that bottomless pit you call a stomach I swear I will find a way to beat your rubber ass to death!"

Her seething anger could be felt by anyone near her, it even gave Johnny and Yosaku nightmares. However, when she went to look down at the target of her scolding she found that Luffy had disappeared. She looked to Zoro for any answer he could give her on the whereabouts of the captain, "Luffy, took off to talk find that weird cook."

Nami felt the need to punch something, or someone. She _would_ find Luffy and she was going to hit him again for leaving during the middle of her lecture, "Good morning, Nami!" A window had opened a few feet above them to reveal the love-struck face of Sanji, "Did you sleep well my love?" Nami felt the need to hit someone transfer from Luffy over to Sanji as he said, "I'll be right down to cook you a fabulous breakfast!"

Another window opened just below Sanji's, "Hey guys!" Luffy popped his head out, "Morning, cook, ready to join my crew? It _is_ a fine morning for an adventure!"

"And my morning is now ruined." Sanji quickly ducked back into the window and away from Luffy.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing in the kitchen?" the familiar voice of Patty was screaming at the rubber man, " **And why did you eat all of the food we were preparing?** " The next thing everybody saw was Luffy being punched through the wall by the irate cook while Sanji, who had heard the ruckus, had kicked through the wall from his floor to land a kick to the gorging pirate's stomach.

Even though Nami did enjoy the sight of Luffy getting some sense knocked into him she couldn't help, but feel slightly unsatisfied that it wasn't her doing the knocking. The young navigator sauntered off towards the main doors to the restaurant while Zoro fished his captain out of the sea, "That captain of yours is a pain in the ass."

"You have no idea." The swordsman had his captain slung over his shoulder, "In my opinion you should just give into this idiot's demands before he ends up dragging you off."

Zoro started towards the door when Sanji stopped him, "Why are you following him? It seems like he's just a gluttonous idiot!"

It was a good question, and Zoro answered, "To be quite honest with you I have never been one for following others, but with this guy I think I have a big chance at making my dream come true." Sanji felt the same feeling from a few days ago, welling up in his chest. How could a person be so open about dreaming? Hell, he'd given it up years ago. Both men went their separate ways while Luffy, who no one noticed had awoken stared at the back of Sanji. He just had to recruit this guy.

The waters of the East Blue were the easiest traverse in the world. Of course, this opinion came from the greatest swordsman in the world and a survivor of the Grand Line, Dracule 'Hawkeye' Mihawk. His yellow eyes darted from here to there, surveying the ocean just as a hawk looks for his prey. The man wore a wide-brimmed, decorated hat with a large plume on top to shade himself from the sun that beat down on him all around. His long black coat with scarlet sleeves and long steel grey pants strapped with shiny black boots sheltered him from gales that overtook the high seas, but had to be quite uncomfortable when it came to the heat from the sun.

Around his neck dangled a simple crossed held together with a large golden cross. It dangled to and fro from the waves of the boat. On his back sat a blade as famous as the man who carried it. It was large, larger than most swords with a black blade. It curved at the end, but for the most part it was straight with a very ornate handguard. It was golden with various blue jewels and a large sapphire at the hilt. It was in the shape of his cross necklace. This was the black sword known as Night, one of the twelve Saijo O Wazamono.

He was currently sailing in a boat that looked like an oversized coffin with a cross shaped mast that had black sails and two candles with green flames on either side. Overall it gave off a creepy vibe that nobody dared cross, "I wonder whose future I will end today?" he asked himself out loud before continuing his journey ever onwards after his prey.

"You've been here for almost four days now, brat," Zeff was standing over what had essentially become the Straw Hat's table, "And you have eaten us out of ten days' worth of food, annoyed most of our regulars, and worst of all given me a migraine from all your constant shenanigans!" First Nami had scolded him, then Patty, then he received a beating from Sanji and nearly drowned, and now he was being yelled at by Zeff. This day sucked.

"But, gramps, I haven't gotten Sanji to join me yet!" Luffy started to whine, but was kicked in the face by Zeff's peg leg, " _What was that for?_ "

" **I'm not old you brat!** " the old chef stomped off leaving Luffy on the floor with a large bump on his head.

"Today sucks." Luffy used the table as leverage to pick himself up in time to see that Sanji had arrived in his usual manner of spinning and hearts.

"Our morning may have been interrupted, but here I am, Nami-sweet!" Sanji was carrying a cup of espresso with cream in the shape of a heart. He set down a plate of eggs benedict, "I specially prepared it myself for you my love and I hope that you're nourished by it!"

While Nami enjoyed eating the best food she had ever had for free she was beginning to feel annoyed by Sanji's overbearing affection. On the other hand it was nice to see that he kept Luffy in line, "Thanks, Sanji!" She glanced over at Luffy to see that he had gotten up from the table and was staring out at the ocean. The navigator took note that the fog outside was thick.

"Something's coming." Luffy intently stared outside and while Nami wanted to dismiss what that rubber brained idiot said, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to happen. She looked in the same spot as Luffy. There deep in the mist was a dark shape slowly making its way around the Baratie, encircling it like how a shark circling its prey. It soon became apparent that someone was using the fog to hide.

"It's a burial at sea." Zoro had seen this sort of circling a few times, "They either want to intimidate us, or they're burying someone before coming to dock."

Sanji glanced at where the Straw Hat's eyes were and saw it. A great dreadnought, bigger than most marine vessels was slowly coming into view. He subconsciously gripped his fists as the sight of the jolly roger came into view. Many other patrons of the sea restaurant stopped eating altogether at the sight of the ruined ship, "It can't be," a customer whispered to himself.

" **It's the Krieg Pirates!** " a scared customer shouted out, " **The hourglasses mean out time is up!** " That was a common saying whenever The Krieg Pirates arrived anywhere for their jolly roger was a skull with sideburns and a pompadour with hourglasses on each side.

Patty's eyes popped out of his head, " **Why the hell are they here?** " All the customers immediately dropped what they were eating and ran for their boats. Most of the cooks had wandered into the dining room to watch the approaching pirate ship, "This is your fault!" Patty held up his sausage like fingers towards Luffy, "You gave that bastard a handout and now their back to squeeze us for food!"

Luffy looked out at the sea and at the ship, "Think we can pay for them too, Nami?"

"Like hell we are!" the navigator had taken to strangling the rubber captain.

The ship came closer and closer still until it had docked. Most of the cooks began to murmur amongst themselves about the impending arrival of one of the three strongest pirates in the East Blue. Luffy and his crew were, for the most part, sitting down at their table relaxing. The two bounty hunters were gripping their swords in a state of preparedness and nervousness.

Chef Zeff had heard the commotion from his room and had made his way down the staircase, "Where the hell are our customers?" he looked around until he noticed the dark figures walking towards the door, "I'm guessing it's those guys fault, am I right?"

Carne spoke up, "Yes, sir, it's Don Krieg!"

"Krieg, huh?" his attention turned towards the other pirate they had there, "Why didn't _you_ run away?"

"I want to see what kind of pirate this Krieg guy is," Luffy stated, but he actually wanted to stay and help here: something in the back of his head was nagging him to stay. It felt like something else was coming towards them.

The shadow of Krieg and another man had limped their way to the door, giving the chefs ample time to brace themselves. What walked through the door was Don Krieg being partially carried by Gin, " _Please… Feed… Me…_ " the pirate Don Krieg was a pathetic sight, was what most of the chefs thought, " _I have… money…_ " the need for sustenance was truly apparent in the starving man's voice.

"Please, Don Krieg, you're a king, you don't have to beg!" Gin was truly sincere in his statement, "We brought money this time so please feed him and our men!" The Krieg pirate almost fell to his knees begging.

"Don't trust a word he says!" Carne shouted out, "If you feed him we're doomed!"

The statement shook the cooks as they wondered if what Carne said was true. "I think this is the perfect opportunity to call the Navy!" the large cooked laughed at the sight of the dying pirate, "After everything he's done I think it's high time to end this." Patty punched the starving pirate captain in the face, slamming him to the ground.

Luffy had had his eyes constantly fixed on Sanji, so he was watching when the cook disappeared into the kitchen and then reappeared with a plate of food held in one hand.

"Here you go."

A simple statement that made the temperature in the room drop to zero. No one said a word as they were too busy being stunned by this act of generosity towards one of the worst criminals in the East Blue, "Eat up." A small smile formed on Luffy's face. This was the cook that he had to have on his crew.

The cooks, however had a difference of opinion when it came to feeding known criminals.

"Sanji, that's enough," Carne began, "We know how you keep feeding every mouth that comes through here without money." The cooks of Baratie had years of fighting experience when it came to pirates and had adopted a strange, but effective weapon. Giant forks, or rather a pitchfork in the shape of a regular fork. They would be comical if not for the serrated edges.

Every one of the weapons was now leveled at Sanji, "We're fine with that most days, but now you've crossed the line!" Patty had his hands clenched, "I'm going to kick your ass before you even get a chance to feed this slime!"

If he was being honest with himself Gin was somewhat astonished that the blonde cook was willingly helping them. Why? He started to wonder to himself. Curiosity and thankfulness entered the Krieg pirate's eyes, "Thank you." Gin's thanks came out as a mere whisper, but Sanji heard it. The cook merely nodded at the pirate.

"Out of my way, you big oaf." Sanji slammed his foot into Patty's ribs. The oversized cook was launched directly into the floor.

Don Krieg began scarfing down every bite of food he could get. It didn't matter if he swallowed pieces' whole he would get his food by whatever means necessary, " **Traitor!** " Patty, while still a bit woozy, yelled at Sanji. He charged up from the spot he landed at and picked up the blonde cook by his collar then threw him halfway across the room, "Do you know what you just did?"

"I must give you my thanks cook, but as for you," Krieg felt more like himself than he had in the past few days, "You can go straight to **hell!** " The pirate shot up from the floor instantaneously to where Patty was standing. In one swift movement Krieg clotheslined the large cook, tossing him like a ragdoll, "Listen up you insignificant worms, I am taking this ship as my own! I will give you time to feed the rest my one hundred crew members, but after that you _will_ leave this ship or I will kill you dead!" This was not a request, it was an order.

"You… really think that we'll let you do… that?" the large captain was bleeding from his head, but he had picked up an oversized cannon that looked a lot like a lobster, "Eat this, **Meatball of Doom!** " a supersized cannonball was launched at Krieg and it hit him dead on, but it had literally no effect. The Don's clothes, except his cape, burned off, revealing golden armor on his upper body. On his shoulders were large pauldrons with his crews jolly roger adorned on it.

"That tasted horrible." Krieg pounded his chest with his right hand, showing off a diamond knuckle, "This fist of mine is diamond! My armor is made from the toughest steel in the world, wootz steel! My name is Don and I am the only one who is qualified to be called thus!" Something clicked inside of his body armor and out of pretty much every nook and cranny of his body popped out a gun, "You have no right to defy me!"

"Shut up." Luffy was leaning back in his chair staring at the rival pirate captain, "You're so annoying!" The rubbery pirate picked his nose and flicked a booger away, though in his head he thought of how cool it would be to attack someone like that.

Gin looked wide eyed at the man who had saved his life, "Who the hell are you?" Krieg glared at the straw hat pirate, "Do you know who I am?"

"Nope." Luffy took a drink from his water, "Doesn't matter anyways."

"Why is that?" Krieg marched his way up to Luffy while the guns on his armor retracted. The two glared at each other while Zoro, although relaxed, had flicked his Wado Ichimonji free of its scabbard just in case things got a little rough, "What makes you think that you're too damn important to know _my_ name you damn straw hat?"

Luffy formed a fist and sent a quick jab at his enemy's chest. The rubber pirate's fist left an indent at the very center of the armor, "Like I said you're so annoying!" Both Nami and the bounty hunting duo were quite astonished at how Luffy was simply talking to a man worth over seventeen million berris. The entire crew had gotten into a more readied position with Johnny and Yosaku pulled out their blades while Nami grabbed a knife from the table, regretting that she had left her staff onboard their dinghy.

Luffy stood from his chair with his fists clenched so hard you could hear them crack, "You're a cheeky brat, aren't you?" the two pirate captains squared up to each other and everyone could feel the temperature in the room drop.

"I've decided to kick your ass!" Luffy had just picked a fight with yet another well-known pirate captain.

"Nobody's kicking anyone's ass in my restaurant!" Zeff kicked both pirate captains to the side, "Get this food to your men, then you can kick his ass kid!" Krieg rose from his spot on the ground with a very pissed off look accompanying him. Zeff just glared at him, almost daring the armored pirate to make a move.

His eyes however shone brightly as he realized the identity of the man that kicked him, "You're Red Leg Zeff!"

Zeff raised his eyebrow at the brat in front of him, "What's it to you?"

"You're a pirate, old man?" Luffy asked.

"In another life I was." the old man stated, "Why does it matter these days? I'm merely a chef now!"

"Why does it matter?" Krieg repeated the question in disbelief. "It was said that you could kick through solid stone and leave the imprint of your shoe upon steel! They called you Red Leg because of the blood covering your leg after wiping out rival crews!" His face almost became more sinister, "You also survived on the Grand Line for a year!"

The old chef had an inkling of where Krieg was going with this, "What do you want, brat?"

"I want your logbook!" The demand brought on the ire of the retired pirate, but Krieg continued, "It has to have information on how to survive that wretched sea!"

"You can get my logbook after you pry it out of my cold, dead hands!" growled the old cook. "That is the is all that remains of my crew and I won't be giving it to some spoiled brat who hasn't the common sense to tell when he should give up!"

"I'll be back for it and your ship, you old geezer!" Krieg simply brushed off Zeff's answer and decided to feed his men. Luffy, on the other hand, watched the man carefully. Krieg just stopped short of the door, "How about this you brat, we fight one on one." Luffy crossed his arms, "When I win every one of you sorry bastards has to get off my ship."

"And when Luffy wins you fork over your cash!" Nami interjected.

"Was I speaking to you girl?" Krieg asked contemptuously. "No! I was speaking to your captain! If I wanted the opinion of a grunt I would ask Gin here!" Nami shrunk back a bit, clenching the knife she wielded, "What do you say Straw Hat?"

"When I beat you I want you gone from here!" Luffy was beginning to charge at Krieg again, "Never come back to the Geezer's restaurant!" Sanji paused to look at the straw hat captain with eyes narrowed, "I want you guys," -he motioned to his crew- "to stay out of this!"

Gin looked flabbergasted. "I'm sorry, Luffy," he merely said, taking a seat in one of the abandoned chairs, "I never meant for my _captain_ to do this!"

Zeff looked at the pirate. "Which crew did that to your ship?" he asked, finally looking at the ship.

"It wasn't a crew, it was one man!" Gin spoke lowly. The shock of hearing that one man wiped out a fifty ship fleet shocked the entire restaurant, "I don't know what we did, he just started attacking our fleet! That hawkeyed man is going to haunt my dreams!"

Zoro's heart began to beat like a drum. "Hawkeyed?" he whispered in a shaky voice. Nami looked at the man sitting next to her and saw that Zoro had the grin of a hungry Sea King.

"Sounds like you came across the Warlord, Hawkeye Mihawk!" Zeff said, "You must have disturbed his nap."

"We did **what**?" Gin's anger grew at the very suggestion, " **Do you think this is some kind of joke you old bastard?** "

"Calm down, brat, it was just a suggestion!" Zeff replied with a blank face, "I'm saying that there are some pirates on the Grand Line that let loose their fury at the simplest of reasons! That's just one of the many challenges you face when entering that fateful sea!"

"This is so exciting!" Luffy shouted out, "I can't wait to get there!"

"So it seems I have to go to the Grand Line to achieve my dream." Zoro said to no one in particular.

Nami on the other hand looked like she was about to cry, but held back. She too had a goal to achieve and if it meant going to that sea to see it done she would go, consequences be damned!

Sanji looked at the Straw-Hat Pirates with a blank stare, "You guys are just a bunch of idiots trying to rush off to your death."

Zoro peered at the cook out of the corner of his eye, "True, but drop that idiot part." Zoro's attention fully turned to Sanji, "When I decided to become the world's greatest swordsman I also decided to throw away whatever attachment I had to life! The only one who has a right to call me an idiot for following my ambition is me!"

Sanji was about to say more, but shut up. He couldn't face Zoro after hearing that. Gin began to look at the Straw-Hat's in a new light. A ghost of a smile formed on his face

Luffy looked down at Gin and gave him a smirk, "Zoro, Nami stay out of this battle, even if Krog's men jump in!" Luffy and Gin held eye contact for a few moments before Gin looked away ashamed. Luffy turned his attention to Sanji, "Going to join my crew yet?"

"Hell no!" Sanji raged, but the anger behind his refusal was all, but gone was the anger, "Besides if I joined you I would have to follow your orders!" Smoke puffed from his cigarette as he continued, "I won't let somebody protect this restaurant on my behalf."

"Fine, but leave Krog to me!" Luffy proclaimed.

The food Krieg had received was nearly gone almost as soon as he set it before the last of his crew. "Thank you, Don Krieg!" his followers shouted, satisfaction dripped in their shouts.

"Are you all fed?" Krieg had taken to standing against the shredded mast. All of his crew, those alive anyways, nodded, "Good, because once we take a ship from a bunch of cooks we're going back to the Grand Line!" The enthusiasm that the crew had gained after their meal dropped to zero as soon as their captain mentioned going back to the pirate's graveyard.

"Is that wise?" one of the pirates asked, but was immediately shot.

Krieg lowered one of his pistols, "Anyone else want to challenge my authority?" The pirates shook their heads no in unison, "Good! When I give you bastards the signal attack!" the captain went to the edge of the ship and looked to see that the no named pirate captain and the black suited chef were standing out on a new battle platform in the form of a set of fins.

"Patty, get your ass down below deck and let the fins out!" Zeff ordered, "The rest of you get ready to keep those bastards out of my restaurant!" Luffy watched with wide eyes. His respect for the old cook had certainly grown, "If you don't then I'm cutting your pay in half!" the hustle of the chef's at the words was a sight to behold.

Luffy looked at his own crew, "Zoro, Nami back up the chef's!" While Nami wasn't usually one to follow orders from the rubber man, she wasn't about to disagree with staying away from the fighting.

"What about us, Big Bro Luffy?" Johnny asked.

"Yea where do you want us?" Yosaku finished.

Luffy turned to the two swordsmen and thought for a moment, then said, "Stay with Zoro!" Luffy exited the ship onto the newly launched fins with Sanji beside him, "You can kick everyone's ass, but Krog's!"

"Just don't cry for help!" the young chef retorted.

The two looked up to see that Krieg had made his appearance, "I thought it was just going to be you that I would fight, Straw Hat?" The armored pirate jumped down onto the platform, "Are you going back on our bet?"

"Nope, he's to keep your crew from helping you!" the rubber man answered. Luffy could see that irritation had crawled up on Krieg's face, "You ready?"

Krieg pulled out a shield from his back, "I am!"

Everything was quiet as the two pirate captain squared off. It looked like they were about to fight when everyone saw an eerie green flash had lit up the area. Luffy, Sanji, and Krieg looked back to see a giant green energy wave speeding towards them.

Half a league away Mihawk sat watching the prey he had followed from the Grand Line with keen eyes. He saw a ship shaped like a fish, "How odd," the swordsman stated to himself before drawing out his black blade. "To think those fools thought themselves safe in these waters!" He slashed down sending an eerie green wave of energy.

The wave sliced the torn-up ship to pieces, which that scattered all over the sea and sky with screams from the Krieg pirates overtaking the sound of cracking wood and splashes from the ocean, "It can't be!" One pirate shouted.

"He's back!" another said.

Chaos was the right word for what was happening. Krieg's eyes were wide with shock and disbelief, " **That son of a bitch followed us all the way back?** "

In the mist of sea water the unearthly glow of Mihawk's candlelit coffin boat could be seen, "It's him!" Gin shook as he saw the ghostly outline of the swordsman appear.

Zoro's heart nearly leapt out of his chest, "The man I've been searching for!" He rushed outside to see if his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. Even Zeff with normally cool attitude could feel the gravity of this situation.

The mist settled, revealing Mihawk to be in a relaxed state, "What are you doing here?" Krieg asked.

Mihawk glanced at Krieg, "Just killing time." The warlord was amused at his own little joke, but could see that everyone else wasn't entertained.

One of the Krieg pirates pulled two pistols from his waist, he then shouted, "Go to hell, demon!" he fired, but to his horror that the pale man had drawn his sword and dodged the bullets, "How did you dodge those bullets?"

"He didn't, he changed the trajectory of the bullets with his sword!" Zoro said to the scared pirate.

"That's not possible!" the gunman shouted, "Who are you anyways?"

One of his fellow crewmen looked to see their new guest had three swords at his waist, "It's Pirate Hunter Zoro!" the Krieg pirates made a commotion about the infamous bounty hunter being near them, but it fell to deaf ears.

"I've never seen such grace by any man using a sword before!" he complimented the man.

"Swordsmanship without grace is not swordsmanship!" he fired back.

"Did you cut this ship in pieces?" Zoro asked.

"I did," Mihawk answered.

"So, it's true," The predatory smile of Zoro scared everyone around him except for Mihawk, "You really are the strongest in the world then!" Zoro tied his bandana around his head, "Then today will be the day my dream will be achieved!"

Mihawk merely raised an eyebrow, "Another challenger?" He had fought so many swordsman, if you could even call them that, that it was just a daily occurrence.

"Today will be the day I take your title," Zoro drew all three of his swords from their sheaths, "and your head!"

"How presumptuous of you!" Mihawk finally stood from his seat, "Then let us begin!"

 **End**


	5. Chapter V: Reality vs Ambition!

**Okay so last chapter I read through the last chapter and I found out that all the divides I made didn't show up! Don't you hate that! Anyways as to why I'm so late in posting this chapter, it's simple. I am a writer and by nature I have been working on my own novel. Well I wrote a short story and sent it to a colleague of mine, who's a fantastic writer, to edit my work so I can get it published. He said it held a lot of potential and told me I could expand it into a novel. I told him it was a** _ **novel**_ **idea!... (I'll go into the corner now…)**

 **It's been my dream to be a published author for years and this is my chance to take it. I'll still work on this because it nags at me so.**

 **Lazymanjones96: I hope that you keep finding this story interesting!**

 **ChunkyFunkyMunky: Hope this chapter answers your question.**

 **Black' Victor Cachat: Fishman Island would be fun and very beautiful, but Dressrosa tends to be attacked by evil flamingos….**

 **Chapter V: Ambition vs. Reality!**

The air around the wreckage and restaurant was palpable, to say the least. Mihawk's coat flapped in the salty wind coming off the sea. He stared at his challenger with a neutral expression that seemed to intimidate everyone that looked him in the eye. Luffy looked between his crewmate and the strongest swordsman in the world.

His eyes darting back and forth between the two swordsmen, "Luffy, do you remember what my condition was for joining your crew?" Zoro said with his Wado Ichimonji in his mouth. He continued, "If you dare to stop this fight I will have you pay with your life!" Zoro stopped then asked one last question, "Are you going to stop this fight?"

"No!" Luffy's face was grim. He was no genius and he knew how strong his crew's swordsman was, but he could sense how strong Mihawk was, much as how an animal can sense how dangerous another animal was.

Krieg looked at the sight and was quite disheveled looking after the appearance of the warlord. He wasn't like most pirates in the East Blue that crapped their pants at the mere mention of the infamous Pirate Hunter, but neither did he hold any illusions of wanting to mess with him, along with the warlord. It would be best just to shut up for now and see how events would play out.

For the most part the others looked tense. Johnny and Yosaku looked as confident as Zoro did, Nami and Sanji were both thinking that the swordsman was an idiot, and Zeff looked passively at the event. It wasn't the old cook's place to question when a brat wanted to fight a battle he couldn't win, "Don't cut up my restaurant!" He yelled out to the two swordsmen.

The showdown soon came to an end as Mihawk pulled a small dagger from his cross necklace and pointed it at Zoro, " **Are you playing with me!** " Zoro yelled.

"You wouldn't kill a fly with a cannon, would you?" Mihawk's face was deadly calm with no hint of a smile, or any sort of emotion for that matter.

Zoro, for his part was pissed off, "I'll make sure you take me seriously!" He yelled before charging at his opponent, "Prepare yourself! **Onigiri**!" The swordsman of the Straw-Hat crew went straight for his opponent's throat. The sound of metal hitting metal echoed throughout the sea.

A small shockwave was let out by Mihawk blocking one of Zoro's strongest techniques, "Is this it? Pathetic." Taunted the elder swordsman, "I had an inkling of hope that you might be tougher than the rest of these cretins, but as I can see you are only marginally stronger than those around us."

" **Shut up!** " Zoro saw red. This was the first time he had felt this level of anger, " **Tiger Hunt!** " The younger swordsman had given up on all, but that was a mistake. No one moved for a moment and Luffy wondered why until he saw that Mihawk had stabbed Zoro in the chest.

" **Zoro!** " Johnny, Yosaku, and, chief among them, Luffy screamed out. Nami looked like she wanted to scream, but her breath was stolen from her

"Will you concede?" Mihawk narrowed his cold, unyielding eyes.

"Never." Luffy's face flashed before the young swordsman's eyes, ' _The King of the Pirates would have no less than the world's best swordsman on his crew!'_

"Why?" The ghost of hope floated through the older man, "You realize that soon I'll have carved your heart from your chest, right?"

Zoro mustered up his strength, "I don't give a damn! If I back up now, my vows, my ambitions, my dreams," Another face flashed before his eyes. It was of a young girl with black hair, "They'll all be gone!"

"That's defeat!" The swordsman all, but screamed.

Zoro's shallow breath filled the stunned ocean, "Then I **won't** admit defeat!"

A wicked grin grew upon Mihawk's face. He pulled his knife from the young swordsman's chest and sheathed it again, "Then I will honor you with death by this black blade!" Pulling the ornate sword off his back he held it in a stance ready for battle.

Zoro's eyes became shadowed over, ' _So this is it. One clash to determine who's the strongest and who's going to a casket._ ' Lining up his swords, ready to use his final attack Zoro steadied himself. It was do or die time and he wouldn't be the one dying.

Years later Zoro wouldn't remember who moved first, " **Three Sword Style Secret Technique: Three Thousand World**!" spinning his three blades he charged the warlord with all his strength, but as soon as his swords clashed the black blade he knew. Two of his swords shattered leaving only his Wado. He sheathed the blade then held it up, ' _Am I really this weak?'_ he turned to face the man who had just defeated him, "Scars on the back are a swordsman's shame!"

"Well said!" Mihawk's smile had an air of pride in it. How long had it been since he had found a worthy swordsman? He slashed down his sword across the former bounty hunter's chest leaving a deep gash with blood exploding from the wound.

"Zoro!" Luffy let out an earth-shattering scream that shook everyone from their frozen state. Zoro fell back and into the ocean. The rubber captain stretched his arm on a piece of the wrecked ship and shot towards the warlord with a wrathful look.

"Big bro!" Johnny and Yosaku jumped into the ocean after their longtime friend.

Mihawk simply stepped out of Luffy's way. The rubber captain crashed into ruined ship, "Do not be so hasty," calmness rolled out of the warlord's mouth, "Your friend is alright, see?" The bounty hunting duo surfaced with Zoro. They swam and landed on the ship's fin, breathing heavily.

The green haired swordsman slowly regained consciousness, his vision hazy, his heart was heavy. He looked around through blurry, sea water caked eyes saw that Mihawk was still standing in the same place and Luffy, his captain, had attempted to attack the infamous swordsman. Zoro gave off a few shallow breaths then held up his sword, but before he could speak he heard Mihawk, " **Hear me, Roronoa Zoro, I will wait for you at the top for however long it takes for you to challenge me!** "

A shiver shot through Zoro, he had been acknowledged by the best. He gripped his Wado so tightly in his hand that his knuckles cracked. He pointed it towards the sky as tears streaked down his cheeks, "Were you worried, Luffy?"

"Zoro!" Luffy yelled in surprise, "Are you alright?"

"Luffy," Zoro began to reply in a low voice, "I **swear** to you that I will never lose again! I _will_ become the greatest swordsman in the world! **Is that alright with you, King of the Pirates!** "

"Yea!" Luffy gave his crewmate a thumb up. Zoro genuinely smiled. His pride was shattered, but his resolve to be the best had grown much, much stronger. The swordsman promptly slipped into unconsciousness.

Mihawk had turned his attention back to the straw hatted captain, "So your wish is to become the king, is it?" Luffy gritted his bared teeth at the man who had hurt his friend and nodded, "Your dream is even more audacious than your crewmates!" His eyes darted back to his original query and his smirk soured into a frown, "Others, however, are audaciously annoying!"

Don Krieg had watched the fight in its entirety and if he had to say anything it would be this: how dare that brat upstage me! The captain of the Krieg pirates looked at his former hunter, "Audaciously annoying? Go to hell you jumped up sellout!" With a click every gun he had attached to his body popped up and they were trained on the world's greatest swordsman, " **Die**!"

"Some fools never learn!" He slashed his sword down sending another wave of energy at the blowhard, "Farewell!" Mihawk shouted as he and his ship disappeared in the mist.

It was almost painless, almost. The first thing that Krieg noticed was his left arm was laid out next to where he stood, "T-The hell?" he stuttered, "T-That… **Bastard**!" he finally screamed out. Pain rushed throughout his body. The captain went down to his knees all the while screaming his lungs out.

"Ahh, I never got to fight you, Kroog!" For years to come Luffy would hold a grudge against Mihawk for stealing his fight, but for now his disappointment was written all over his face. He hopped back over next to Zoro to check on him.

Sanji was in a pure stupor. Why didn't the Pirate Hunter give up on his dreams? Now he had no pride and he looked like he was dying. That was what you got when you followed your dreams; pain. Nevertheless, the thumping in his heart couldn't deny his want to follow his dream. His eyes darted from the deck of the ship towards the rubber pirate. Did he put everything on the line to follow his dream as well?

The blonde-haired cook puffed his cigarette and sauntered onto where the cooks and straw hats had gathered. He glanced over to see that the Krieg Pirates, including Gin, had gathered around their newly crippled captain.

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Gin waded through the crowd of his crewmen to see his captain wailing in pain, "You bastards!" Krieg screamed, "What are you doing standing around here? Why aren't you killing those weaklings like I ordered!"

"The fight was over before it even began, Don!" Gin knelt down next to his captain. Rage bubbled just underneath the battle commander's skin, "You led our crew to ruin and you only have yourself to blame now." With one swift motion and before Don Krieg could say anything Gin stood up and kicked his captain into the ocean. He cratered into the water and tried to swim, but it was in vain. The heavy armor he wore ended up being a detriment to him in the end. He sunk down and down, down and down, until all that was left was his severed arm.

Thus, ended the life and career of the pirate Don Krieg.

"Anyone want to say anything for our captain?" Gin asked. His stare caught sight of a very peculiar man standing amongst the crowd of cutthroats, "How about you, Pearl, do you follow me?"

The man was quite wide with silver body armor and a pearl for a hat. He stood a head above everyone else, "I never did like Krieg!" He held his shielded arm, "I follow Don Gin!"

Gin heard cheers rise and realized that maybe he didn't need to follow anyone, he needed to be followed. A wicked smirk rose on his face, "As soon as we can find us a new ship we'll be sure to go back to that hellish sea and conquer it!" further cheers rose up amongst those pirates that survived the Grand Line.

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The dining room of the Baratie was very somber. Zoro was on a few of the tables wrapped in bandages and Luffy was sitting right next to his friend. He hadn't left his first mate's side since entering the restaurant. As for Nami, she was sitting by the window with a sickened look. She couldn't turn away from the carnage that was wrought by one of those Grand Line pirates, but she could damn well look away from the aftermath. Her knee jostled as she gripped the edge of her table.

"Nami." Sanji had brought over a cup of tea.

"Thank you, Sanji." Sanji began to walk away, but Nami stopped him, "Is this what it means to follow your dream?"

The blonde-haired cook didn't answer at first, "I don't know."

"Of course, it is!" Zeff was sitting close to the two of them, drinking from a small flask, "You brats could learn a thing or two from the Pirate Hunter!"

"What do you know, old man?" Sanji knew what was coming.

Zeff guzzled down the alcohol, "Enough to know that the Pirate Hunter would go to hell and back if it meant making his dream a reality." He let out a short chuckle, "He may have been rash in his decision to fight the warlord, but you can't say he didn't try!"

Both Nami and Sanji glanced in Zoro's direction, "Sanji, you and I have the same dream and I sure as hell know that you won't find it here in this kitchen!" the younger cook's fists clenched together, "Now look I think we both know that even if you stayed you wouldn't be happy, not one bit. Follow that Straw Hat and I'll guarantee that you'll thank me for it someday!"

"You can't get rid of me that easy, gee-" A kick from Zeff's peg leg silenced Sanji.

"Shut up, brat!" He began in a huffed-up tone, "Now I can go on and on about following your dream, but if you want my honest opinion, I'll give it to you!" He sat back down in front of the shocked cook, "I never found the All Blue, but when I got back I ran into some snot nosed runt screaming about finding it! I didn't survive that damn month only for you to give up on your dream because of guilt!

"My dream is in your hands now, Sanji!" Zeff was quickly gaining the attention of the cooks around him, "Don't do what I did and quit! Do you think I gave up my leg to see you rot away in my kitchen, eggplant?" Grabbing Sanji by the collar of his shirt he started to yell, " **Get your ass out of my kitchen and live your own life!** "

Sanji was thrown into the same booth Nami was in. Nami wasn't new to violence, but words like Zeff's were definitely something she wasn't used to, "Why would you say that?"

"Because I'm tired of looking after a boy who refuses to become a man!" Zeff walked off angrily into the kitchen.

The young blonde cook sat up, "Don't worry about it, Nami, it doesn't concern you."

Nami looked quite put out, however, she conceded to herself that she had no idea what the old chef was talking about when it came to his and Sanji's shared past. The idea of living one's own life though sounded like a sweet siren's song, calling her from her life's one purpose.

Sanji got up and grabbed the straw-hat captain by his mouth, "Let's go, Rubber for brains!"

"Where 'o?" Luffy asked, slightly surprised.

"Outside." Sanji dragged Luffy outside to the fresh ocean air and found that the former Krieg pirates were talking amongst themselves. The two were off by themselves and far from prying eyes of any cooks or pirates, "You wanted me to join your crew, right?"

Luffy's smile seemed to grow larger with each word said by the cook, "Yea, I do!" The rubber man's smile irritated the cook a little.

"Then I have one question; have you ever heard of the All-Blue?" Sanji asked the pirate captain and in turn was met with shake of the head. Sanji then went on to explain the dream of all chef's, an ocean of that held the fish all four blue seas. A veritable paradise of sea life. It was Sanji's dream to find this great ocean, to be the first chef to ever tread there.

He came to life just speaking about this dream. Luffy did too, to hear someone speak as passionately of their dream as he did was amazing. Above the two men a very amused looking Zeff smiled whimsically. The miracles of youth.

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Gin was exhausted. Since he was now the captain of this rabble he knew he had one option left, "You guys wait here, I'll be back." He hopped from scrap wood to scrap wood until he had reached the doors to the Baratie. He hesitated for a mere moment before walking into a sea of weaponized utensils. Gin sat cross-legged on the floor with his head down, "I wish to apologize."

The chefs lowered their weapons a bit in confusion, "A pirate apologizing?" Zeff hobbled back from the kitchen, "What's the world coming to?"

"As shameful as it is, even my crew, or what remains of it has a bit of honor." Gin's head hung low, "Don Krieg is dead, and seeing as I'm now the captain I wish offer my apologies, I also ask to work off the damage done by my former captain."

The crippled, former pirate paced around the newly dubbed captain, "Your crew wanted to take my ship as their own until just a few minutes ago, and now you want to work for me because of some kind of honor? Bullshit." Zeff walked away from Gin, "However we need waiters tough enough to deal with these bastards." He pointed towards his chefs.

A sigh of relief escaped from Gin, "We'll call it two weeks here then you and your crew can go free."

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Although Patty disagreed with giving Sanji and his crew the Shimashima Shopping he knew that they needed a kitchen. He sailed around to meet up with Luffy's growing flotilla, all the while remembering the first time he had met the blonde cook.

 _Patty burst through the doors and into what was supposed to be the roughest restaurant in all the East Blue with his cooking partner, Carne, "We heard that you're hiring cooks!" Patty yelled._

" _Tough ones!" Carne added._

 _While the two chefs were busy scanning the place a boy, no, a teenager was busy flirting with one of the female customers with a goofy grin and hearts for eyes, "Guess not if all there is, is a little kid here." The duo snickered until they saw the brat glaring at them._

" _Got a problem, brat?" Carne asked._

 _Sanji ran up to them and kicked them both with one swing of his leg, "Don't interrupt a beautiful lady!"_

The large cook's face scrunched up and his knuckles cracked at the mere thought of not getting any revenge for the years of having Sanji kick his ass over the tiniest of details. When he had finally made it back to the front of the restaurant he saw that Carne was thinking the same thing, revenge.

The two marched out to see that Sanji was carrying a rucksack towards the flotilla, "Hold up, you curly eyebrowed, bastard!" Carne yelled out.

"It's time for us to get you back for all the shit you've put us through over the years!" Both jumped towards the blonde chef, and were immediately kicked down.

"Idiots." Sanji whispered to himself. He continued walking towards his ship until he heard the clacking of wood hitting wood.

He turned back to see Chef Zeff was leaning over the railing above him with one hand holding up his head, "Don't catch a cold out there."

Tears welled up in the eyes of the blonde cook. He couldn't hold back anymore, "Thank you for everything, Chef Zeff!" On the lead ship Luffy smirked at the two cooks, he had chosen another keeper.

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Far and away from the Baratie sat a large pirate ship with a black cat's head on the bow of it, this was the Bezan Black, the ship of the Black Cat Pirates. On it the crew was lethargically milling about. It had been awhile since their last raid.

 _Ba-doop, Ba-doop, Ba-doop. Ba-doop, Ba-doop, Ba-doop._

A strange looking man with curly hair hidden a blue fedora was reclining back in chair on the deck of the ship. He had heart shaped, pink sunglasses, a blue trench coat with a white shirt underneath, and green pants. He reached and grabbed a small snail near him, "Hello?"

"It's been a long time, Jango." A formal, commanding voice replied.

Jango got up from his chair, surprised, "Captain!"

"Shut up, and listen, Jango." The pirate heard the order from his captain and shut up, "In a few days' time I want you and the rest of the Black Cat Pirates to sail into Gecko Islands, specifically Syrup Village." Jango raised his eyebrows as the specificity and the timing of this attack.

Scratching the mushroom stock that grown on his chin, Jango peered around him to see his crewmates had gathered around him, "And why now of all times to come out of hiding?"

"Because the time is right." The other line held on for a few seconds before the Transponder snail was hung up. _Ga-chick_.

"Damnit."

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It had been a couple days since the incident at the Baratie. The three vessels were sailing without direction currently, "Luffy, we need to get big bro to a doctor." Johnny pointed out.

The captain of the growing pirate crew was busy sitting on the bow of the lead dinghies, "Where's the nearest island?" He asked without taking an eye off the ocean.

"The Gecko Islands, Syrup Village, to be exact." Nami spoke up, "It'll take us about a day to sail there."

"I know that place!" Luffy smiled, confusing the rest of the occupants of the dinghies.

" _Do you know, I have son that's probably your age by now!" A scraggily haired pirate drunkenly bragged, "I had to leave him, and my wife! The life of a pirate called!"_

" _You've said that every day for the past year!" A younger Luffy yelled at the drunken pirate._

 _This pirate was known as Yasopp just continued, "I had to leave them in Syrup Village."_

Luffy wondered what kind of man Yasopp's son was.


End file.
